Overview

The New Mexico OES Wage Survey is a joint effort by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Economic Research and Analysis Bureau of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS). The BLS provides the procedures and technical support while the State Employment Security Agencies (SESA’s) collect and compile the data. The SESA’s produce occupational wage estimates for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), Workforce Regions, and the State, using the Estimates Delivery System (EDS) provided by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission.

Under contract with the BLS, the NMDWS collects the occupational wage information from New Mexico employers on the Occupational Employment Survey. The OES Wage Survey is a semi-annual sampled based mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates. Approximately 1,700 employers are sampled each panel. Employer participation for New Mexico is well over 1,400 establishments for each panel. Reference dates for the survey are May 12th and November 12th.

This survey report is based on information collected during the last three years. For example, the November 12th panel is due the following July and the estimates are then published for the previous three years worth of data. Data collected from the surveys are updated using the BLS’s Employment Cost Index (ECI) for private industry workers by industry and occupational group, Table 3, from the National Compensation Survey (National Compensation Survey Home Page). Occupational wage statistics on this site are published reflecting the panel reference date and Occupational wage statistics are published updating all data to the current ECI.

The OES Program uses the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System. This system is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. Workers are classified into approximately 840 OES occupations according to their occupational definition. Detailed job descriptions can be downloaded from the Internet at Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System home page. For additional information concerning sampling, estimation techniques, descriptions of occupations and further OES program definitions, visit the BLS website http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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