PSRC produces estimates of jobs by city and census tract for the four-county central Puget Sound region.
Please note this data series is undergoing revision. Users should check the metadata tab of each data file for information regarding vintage and revision details.
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Covered Employment Data Files
More Information About This Data
Sources of Data
Our employment summaries derive from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), administrative records employers report, by law, to the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD). To provide more accurate workplace reporting, PSRC gathers supplemental data from the Boeing Company, the Office of Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and governmental units throughout the central Puget Sound region.
Timing
The dataset for March of each year is presented here as a representative month when seasonal fluctuations are minimized.
Unit of Measurement
The unit of measurement is jobs, rather than working persons or proportional full-time employment (FTE) equivalents. Part-time and temporary positions are included. Employment by city totals show separate breakdowns by major sector (e.g., services, manufacturing, retail, etc.) and by 2-digit NAICS industrial classification codes.
Employment by census tract totals is broken down by major sector only.
What is Covered Employment?
Covered employment refers to positions covered by the Washington Unemployment Insurance Act. The Act exempts the self-employed, proprietors and corporate officers, military personnel, and railroad workers, so those categories are not included in the dataset. Covered Employment accounts for approximately 85-90% of all employment. More information can be found in the Employment Data Series memo.
Data Notes
- Minor improvements were made to 2000 and 2010 datasets in spring 2013.
- The 2008 dataset was updated in April 2010 to reflect improvements to local education job estimates.
The 2000-2007 datasets were updated in August 2009 to reflect several improvements incorporated into the PSRC’s covered employment database.