02 exportable annual refiling system ears major files
Exportable Annual Refiling System (EARS) Major Files
The Code Change Supplement (CCS) File is created by Job 109D. It is also built as part of the integrated edits in Job 242D. It contains records with NAICS, county, township, and ownership code changes made during the refiling process. Although not a deliverable, this file is required by the CES program to identify firms with code changes for updates to the CES Registry File. The CCS File is also built by Job 110D, serving as a jump-off spot for the Summary of Differences (SoD) File.
The Refiling File (referred to as the "Control File" by BLS) is the holding file for individual micro records being refiled; it also contains other code changes that have been noted in the Micro File, using a "50" response code. It contains most of the required data for individual employers within the EARS system. The Refiling File has been stripped down so that it contains a minimum of duplicate information; it doesn't contain any address information for the employer, nor name information. This information is to be gathered from the Micro File. It does contain the old and new code values, the response code, the Collection Mode Indicator (CMI) code, and the ID of the last person who updated the record. There are also up to three error codes contained in the record so that it can be edited similarly to the Micro File; it acts as an edit file, therefore.
The Refiling Transactions File tracks changes made to records on the Refiling File. Changes originating from any source other than Input Refiling Transaction (IRT) updates are tracked. The record consists of the same key information found in the Administrative Transaction File of EXPO followed by a full "before" image and a full "after" image of the Refiling File record. The EARP screen allows on-line review of the transaction file and Job 116D (Refiling Audit Trail Report) produces an audit trail of Refiling File changes by perusing the transaction file. Changes here appear as a single screen, with side-by-side display of the before and after-change image, along with a red highlighting of any fields that are changed. On the ES2P screen, the before and after images will appear as separate screens; the red highlighting, however, will still denote any fields that are changed in the transaction.
The Refiling Survey Summary Management File is the file version of the monthly survey management report. Created by Jobs 106D and 106M, it contains refiling status information on the number of mailings (unknown once BLS has their hand in things), response rates, code changes, etc. This file can be sent via email or transmitted to BLS via FTP.
The Summary of Differences (SoD) File is created by EXPO Job 242D and EARS Job 110D. It contains summed employment and total wage values for code changes, merged to the macro cell (county/ownership/NAICS) level. These summaries are drawn from CCS File data. December through March employment and fourth and first quarter total wages are included in the file. Job 110D converts this into a report, while Job 242D uses the code changes as adjustments to first quarter macro edits, removing the impact of fourth quarter to first quarter code changes. Essentially, this file is to show what "would have been" for macro cells that have shifted from one county-owner-NAICS to another; it smooths out the data to show what would have been the case if the code changes had not taken place at the start of the new year.
The Lookup File (previously mentioned as an EXPO file) is also used by EARS to store Survey Log Table records. These records, created by Job 100A, and updated by CARS data processed in the 105D job and received with the 114D (-S, -C) and 121D jobs, would show the current status of printing of the forms, as much as is possible. Obviously, since the actual forms printing is being done externally, from the CARS center, the number of forms produced with each mailing is unknown. The information is used by various programs including Jobs 106D and 106M to produce the Survey Management Report. Note that the Survey Log data (which is used for the SMR) has been drastically cut back beginning with the 2015-2016 refiling cycle; the number of forms involved is not available, since this is all handled externally in BLS.
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