11 expo editing procedures introduction
EXPO Editing Procedures Introduction
The editing methods employed by the EXPO system have been devised by the National Office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The current edit numbering system was devised by a coalition of State, Regional, and National representatives in the Mic/Mac Project. Precise methods for performing the edits have been augmented substantially since that time. The original, official BLS editing methodology was documented in the Consolidated System Requirements for the ES-202 Mic/Mac Project manual. Thereafter, updates to editing methodology have been recorded in the BLS QCEW Manual itself. The representation here signifies how the edits are coded and utilized within EXPO.
Edit processes and formulations remain in a state of flux, as more effective record selection and data validation methods are sought out. Since micro data editing is one of the fundamental requirements of QCEW processing, these techniques warrant a more detailed examination than what has been provided in the descriptions of jobs and CICS screens that are involved. There are five branches of the edits - micro, macro, multi-balance, predecessor/successor, and wage summary edits. Micro edits are performed in the 001, 002, 028, and 242D (formerly ‘42D’) jobs. Macro edits appear solely in Job 242D. Multi-balance editing is checked in Jobs 003D and 003S. Predecessor/successor consistency checking is the responsibility of Job 015D (the original form of predecessor/successor edits are also still available through the 015S job). Optional wage summary editing (depending on whether the Wage Summary File is maintained in the State) is enabled by Job 061D. CICS on-line editing is performed with ES2E (micro side), ES2D (macro/integrated edits), and ES2H (multi-balance adjustments). At some point in the future, ES2G may be able to track predecessor/successor edits on-line as well; however, this requires the completion of the BLS predecessor/successor edit algorithms. The ES2H screen enables adjustments to individual worksites so that multi-unit families can be brought back into balance. It is also possible to browse through the list of current-quarter or prior-quarter out-of-balance families, and to re-prorate delinquent or partially reported worksite families. There are not yet CICS screens to assist directly in predecessor/successor or wage summary edit resolution, though the information on predecessor/successor transitions and micro-to-wage summary comparisons can be obtained from the ES2C screens, and ES2G can verify predecessor/successor shifts and wage record counts.
Besides the edits just described, certain auxiliary edits are conducted by the system to try to capture extraordinary data fluctuations that may have slipped through the cracks or gone unnoticed during the standard edit review process. These include Jobs 008D and 008S, which produce a scored edit report, Job 018D, which lists all accounts with an “A”-list (or higher priority – to be described later) error, and Job 031D, which lists all accounts eligible for EQUI submittal (in any eligible quarter) that show high volatility in employment and/or wages, without seasonal effect. Job 030D gives a snapshot view of micro edit data, assessing the progress made thus far in cleaning up data in preparation for the EQUI submittal.
Micro data editing is principally based upon a number of editing constants and tolerances. These values, such as the maximum allowable employment for an account with zero wages, the State minimum tax rate, etc., are provided in the Lookup File. The values may be modified by the QCEW-unit analyst to tighten or loosen editing constraints. Certain edit conditions do not rely upon tolerance levels, and therefore are not subject to analyst adjustment (e.g., an invalid ownership code on an active account requires no minimum employment level to be flagged as an exception). However, many of these edits are contingent upon a minimum employment level that can be adjusted to some extent. As editing methodologies expand, so too does the number of the editing constants continue to increase. These are all laid out in the descriptions that follow.
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