02 exportable qcew system expo general overview
Exportable QCEW System (EXPO) General Overview
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), formerly referred to as the Covered Employment and Wages program, and once idiomatically referred to by the obsolete title of the ES‑202 program, is a cooperative endeavor between the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Workforce Services agencies of the 50 States, the District of Columbia (DC), Puerto Rico (PR), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI). Using quarterly reports submitted by the State agencies, BLS summarizes, analyzes and publishes information on employment and wage data for workers covered by State Unemployment Insurance (U-I) laws and for civilian workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program.
The QCEW program is a comprehensive and accurate source of employment and wage data, by industry, at the national, state, and county levels. It provides a virtual census of non-agricultural employees and their wages. In addition, about 40 percent of workers in agriculture are covered and included in the QCEW program statistics.
The Exportable QCEW system (EXPO) is a series of computer programs and data files designed to efficiently process employment and wage data and to produce all QCEW program deliverables. The system was developed by the Utah Department of Workforce Services under the direction of the BLS. It consists of various data files, which are accessed by CICS (Customer Information Communication Systems) screens, along with numerous batch programs configured to operate in over 50 batch jobs. Access to the U-I system is available through State-developed extracts. When combined with the Windows-based (WIN) program, it covers all 53 agencies (the 50 States, the District of Columbia (DC), Puerto Rico (PR) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI)). Eventually, the EXPO and WIN programs will be replaced by the QUEST (Quarterly Employment and Wages States) System; it is slated to be released in 2019, but a budget shortfall may make it take longer. As it stands now, it is difficult to say which decade it will be done in.
The EXPO system also includes the EXPO Automated Refiling System (EARS). It was developed to automate and simplify refiling activities. EARS is an integral part of EXPO and is not a stand-alone refiling system. EARS essentially replaced the BLS-developed Annual Refiling Control System (ARCS) as a means to perform refiling operations. While the EARS CICS screens have their own menus, they are easily accessible from the EXPO screens and vice versa. BLS has provided a quarterly refiling system for the 2017 refiling cycle, and they have maintained a degree of automation in the data collection and forms production.
The Exportable QCEW system is designed to be user friendly. It features on-line edit, file inquiry, and maintenance capabilities. It produces numerous edit and internal operating reports, as well as customized labor market information reports that can be used to fill general requests for data. It also produces some delimited files that can be loaded with the FTP operation. The system produces the BLS EQUI deliverable, the monthly ARS deliverable, and the history file used for preparing MWR-Web information.
The heart of the EXPO system is the Micro File, the holding file for all establishment-level records. Included in the Micro File are single, master multi, and multi sub-unit records. Also included are all records classified under the reimbursable and experience-rated coverage provisions of the State's Unemployment Insurance Act. Non-insured records may be included as well, if a State chooses to maintain these "non-covered" or "non-subject" data. The Micro File is the source of all output produced by the Exportable QCEW system. The quality of all QCEW system products will be only as good as the quality of the data in the Micro File.
To insure Micro File data quality, two areas should be emphasized: (1) the State-specific data extraction program, which draws data from State tax files for inclusion in the Micro File, must be complete and accurate; and (2) the State's QCEW program staff must be meticulous in reviewing and researching edit exceptions, insuring proper industry, county and ownership codes, determining accurate worksite addresses, and, of course, verifying employment- and wage-related information for each micro record.
As previously mentioned, EXPO includes the "EARS" NAICS refiling system. The heart of the EARS system is the Refiling File, which contains records for all employers selected for review of their NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), county, ownership (Federal, State, or local government, or private sector), MEEI (Multiple-Establishment Employer Indicator), and (for some States) sub-county township codes.
The refiling process attempts to verify the accuracy of physical address data. Refiling data include single, master multi, and multi-subunit records. Records are classified under the Reimbursable and Experience-Rated coverage provisions of the State's Unemployment Insurance Act. Since the primary source for the initial building of each year's Refiling File is the Micro File, the quality of Refiling File data depend directly upon the quality of the Micro File data and, of course, the quality of updates made during the refiling process. A record cannot be added to the Refiling File unless it is in the Micro File.
EXPO Orientation
At first, the EXPO system in its entirety may seem intimidating. This orientation will highlight key EXPO system information, explain core concepts, and direct the user to additional references.
EXPO System Structure and Purpose
The EXPO system is housed on an IBM mainframe running OS/390, maintained by DMA (or Data Management Associates) by contract. EXPO is written in the COBOL programming language, which is why its programs are executed so rapidly. The primary purpose of the EXPO system is to create the Enhanced Quarterly Unemployment Insurance (EQUI) File. The EQUI is a collection of important statistical reports, aggregates, and findings, used for the historical documentation of economic activity in the United States. This file is submitted by each State to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for further analysis.
EXPO and EARS are related systems, insomuch that they are sometimes referred to as the EXPO/EARS system. EXPO is the umbrella system, which processes all employment and wage statistics required to produce the EQUI file. EARS exists underneath EXPO, "bolted on" to enhance the functionality and consolidate the functionality of EXPO. EARS is used to verify and update the physical locations of businesses in a three-year cycle, to maintain a relevant information foundation on which EXPO data can be entered and processed.
MWR Data Entry
Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) forms are produced quarterly and sent to employers for the collection of worksite-level employment and wage data. The forms are returned to the QCEW unit for processing into the EXPO system via data entry specialists and QCEW analysts. The database is populated and maintained through what are known as CICS Transactions (or screens).
Basic EXPO Navigation
For more information on logging into EXPO, please reference Appendix A - DMA Processing.
EXPO is navigated through a series of CICS Transactions, also known as CICS Screens. They are primarily used for MWR data entry, but are also able to access other EXPO/EARS functions, such as batch job processing and parameter entry.
Batch Job Processing
The purpose of running mainframe batch jobs is to organize database information in an increasingly meaningful manner. These batch jobs perform a myriad of functions, from producing and printing MWR forms, producing reports, to performing error checks, and producing edit exceptions.
If MWR data entry could be compared to planting seeds in a garden, batch job processing would be the process of harvesting the data.
EXPO Documentation Orientation
01 - EXPO/EARS Divisions is a master table of contents, which links to every document, appendix, and major sub-section of the EXPO/EARS documentation. The EXPO/EARS Divisions provides a snapshot of the entire contents of the documentation library.
The 02 - EXPO System Introduction document provides a general overview of processing EXPO and EARS data. This document introduces basic procedures, system files, navigation, and provides examples of an EXPO processing timeline.
03 - EXPO Development Team Profiles introduces the members of the EXPO Development Team.
The 04 - Batch Job Processing manual provides a reference, describing each individual batch job in detail. This document provides links to descriptions of the individual programs run "behind the scenes" of each batch job, as well as a links to individual job parameter entry instructions.
05 - CICS Screens is a detailed description of the ins and outs of EXPO/EARS system navigation, through the use of CICS Transactions.
06 - File Record Layouts scrutinizes each major system file's structure.
07 - Appendix A - DMA Processing is an introduction to DMA mainframe architecture and navigation. This document will assist users with logging on to the EXPO system, discuss preliminary CICS navigation, instruct how to submit and monitor a batch job, and transfer files to and from the mainframe via File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
08 - Appendix B - Miscellaneous System Tables is a helpful reference which lists CICS Screen data definitions, codes, field values, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) definitions, among other miscellaneous information.
09 - Appendix C - VSAM Files and CICS Table Definitions is a helpful reference for system engineers, architects, and programmers. This document provides initial Virtual Sequential Access Method (VSAM) file structure definitions, for the building (or rebuilding) of critical VSAM files on which the EXPO system runs.
10 - Appendix D - Estimation Methods delves into the mathematical and programming structure behind the EXPO system. It provides a list, and an explanation of, the spectrum of wage estimation methods employed by the EXPO system. This document is designed for system engineer and programmer use, but also provides much more detailed explanations of many of the codes listed in Appendix B - Miscellaneous System Tables.
11 - Appendix E - EXPO Editing Procedures goes hand-in-hand with Appendix D. This document introduces Program Constant (PK) Values, used in the restricting and loosening of data editing tolerances. Appendix E also provides additional code identifications, mathematical formulas, and discusses some of the underlying programming structure of EXPO.
12 - Appendix F - IMT Development is a detailed overview of the Input Micro Transaction (IMT) File.
13 - Appendix G - IMAT File Development Guide is similar to Appendix F, except that it covers the Input Micro Auxiliary Transaction (IMAT) File.
14 - Appendix H - Parameter Descriptions is the companion guide to the Batch Jobs Processing documentation. This document lists, in painstaking detail, the parameter entries and controls used when submitting a batch job for DMA mainframe processing.
15 - Appendix I - Program Descriptions is a list of programs run underneath each of the batch jobs. It is meant as a programmer's reference, but also provides a list of input, output, and updated files for each program, as well as reports produced as a result of running the program.
16 - Appendix J - Glossary & Common Terms references all major (and many minor) EXPO definitions. It also provides a list of commonly-used acronyms to assist the user in clarifying the purpose of system components and processes.
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