CCC Labor Market Information 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which BLS program produces employment and wage estimates for roughly 800 occupations by state and metropolitan area?
- Current Population Survey (CPS)
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) (Correct answer)
- Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
- National Compensation Survey (NCS)
Correct answer: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
OEWS publishes occupation-level employment and wage estimates at national, state, and metro levels.
Question 2: A client sees that an occupation's median annual wage is $52,000. What does this figure mean?
- The average of all workers' wages in that occupation
- The starting salary for new entrants
- Half of workers earn more and half earn less than $52,000 (Correct answer)
- The wage earned by the most common worker
Correct answer: Half of workers earn more and half earn less than $52,000
The median is the midpoint of the wage distribution, with 50% of workers above and 50% below.
Question 3: Which survey, conducted for BLS by the Census Bureau, is the household survey used to calculate the official national unemployment rate?
- Current Employment Statistics (CES)
- American Community Survey (ACS)
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW)
- Current Population Survey (CPS) (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Current Population Survey (CPS)
The monthly CPS household survey is the source of the official unemployment rate.
Question 4: A client who wants a job but has stopped looking because they believe no jobs are available is classified as:
- A discouraged worker, not counted in the labor force (Correct answer)
- Unemployed under the official U-3 rate
- Employed part time for economic reasons
- Frictionally unemployed
Correct answer: A discouraged worker, not counted in the labor force
Discouraged workers are outside the labor force because they are not actively searching.
Question 5: Which type of unemployment best describes a coal miner whose skills no longer match available jobs after the region's mines close permanently?
- Frictional
- Seasonal
- Structural (Correct answer)
- Cyclical
Correct answer: Structural
Structural unemployment results from a lasting mismatch between workers' skills or location and available jobs.
Question 6: In O*NET, a Job Zone 4 occupation typically requires:
- Little or no preparation
- A high school diploma and some on-the-job training
- Graduate degree and extensive experience
- Considerable preparation, usually a four-year bachelor's degree (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Considerable preparation, usually a four-year bachelor's degree
Job Zone 4 means considerable preparation, with most occupations requiring a bachelor's degree.
Question 7: Why should a counselor caution a client relying solely on national occupational projections who plans to stay in their hometown?
- National data are always outdated by ten years
- Local demand and wages can differ substantially from national figures (Correct answer)
- National data exclude self-employed workers entirely
- Projections are only published for federal jobs
Correct answer: Local demand and wages can differ substantially from national figures
Regional labor markets vary, so state and local LMI should supplement national projections.