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     In February, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin data collection for the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS).

     Sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau, data collection for the CPS–ASEC will occur this year during the weeks of Feb. 19, March 19 and April 16, 2006, when nearly 2,000 Census Bureau field representatives interview approximately 100,000 households.

     “The federal, state and local governments as well as businesses across our nation look to the CPS as their primary source of information regarding our country’s labor force,” said George Grandy Jr., director of the Census Bureau’s Atlanta Regional Office. “The ASEC collects a great diversity of socioeconomic characteristics data as part of the annual CPS program.”

     Survey results enable the following high-profile indicators to be updated:

• The monthly unemployment rate;
• The median household income;
• The official poverty rate; and,
• The percentage of people without health insurance coverage.

     The CPS is the longest-ongoing household survey in the country, initiated in 1942. Each month during the survey, Census Bureau field representatives ask selected households questions relevant to characteristics of the U.S. labor force — including employment status, hours of work, earnings, age, sex, race, marital status, educational attainment, occupation and industry where employed.

     Prior to the survey, local households selected in the nationwide sample receive a letter from Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. Some households are interviewed by telephone and others in person. The Census Bureau field representatives carry official identification cards. By law, all information that could identify survey respondents or their households is confidential.