This documentation describes the (relatively) standardized extracts made from the May Current Population Survey (CPS), covering the years 1969-1987. Care should be excercised in using them, as not all variables are available in all years, and some codes have changed over time. The following pages provide some idea of the changes, but no warranty is expressed or implied as to their accuracy. It may (will?) be necessary to consult the BLS codebooks for years you are using. These files are stored as STATA .dta files cpsmay69.dta through cpsmay87.dta. Variables names are x1 through x200. Under 'Years' below, 'o' means only and 'x' means except. The 1975 tape location is given in word:byte form, to match the BLS documentation. CPS May Extracts - Variable List 1975 Tape # loc col len Description Range Years Universe 1 1:1 7 1 Record type 1 All All 2 1:2 8 1 Month in sample 1-8 " " 3 1:3 9 1 Sample (A or C) 1-2 o73-76 " 4 1:4 10 5 Random Cluster (first ID field) *** x73-75 " 5 2:3 15 4 Segment number (second ID field) *** All " 6 3:1 19 2 Serial number (third ID field) *** " " 7 *** *State Codes - 1969-72, 77-84 11-93 x73-75 " 8 3:4 22 1 Region 1-4 All " 9 3:5 23 2 *State Codes - 1975 version 11-93 x69-72 " 10 4:1 25 2 Regional office 01-12 o73-76 " 11 4:3 27 2 *SMSA rankings 01-99 x69-72 in SMSA 12 4:5 29 1 Interviewer check 1-4 All All 13 5:1 31 3 Noninterview cluster 1-76 o73-76 " 14 6:1 37 1 Line number of respondent 1-7 All " 15 6:2 38 1 Type of interview 1-5 " 16 6:3 39 2 Date completed 10-29 x69-71 " 17 7:1 43 1 Did X do any work last week? 1-2 All " 18 7:2 44 1 Interviewer check (hours range) 1-3 " " 19 7:3 45 1 Absent from job or on layoff? 1-2 " " 20 7:4 46 1 Looking for work last 4 weeks? 1-2 " " 21 7:5 47 1 Check (continuing/departing rot.) 1-2 " " 22 7:6 48 1 Sample (A or C) 1-2 o73-76 " 23 8:1 49 1 *Land usage (urban/rural, farm) 1-5 x73-76 " 24 8:2 50 2 Type of living quarters 01-10 All " 25 8:5 53 1 *SMSA status code (central city) 1-3 x73-75 " 26 8:6 54 1 Household number 1-8 All " 27 9:1 55 I Major activity last week 1-7 " " 28 9:2 56 2 Hours worked last week all jobs 01-99 " ESR 1 29 9:4 58 1 Usually work 35+ hours this job 1-2 " ESR 1 & 34- hours 30 9:5 59 2 *Reason less than 35 hours worked 01-15 " " 31 10:1 61 I Why absent from work 1-8 " ESR 2,3 32 10:2 62 1 Getting wages for time off 1-3 " ESR 2 33 10:3 63 1 Usually work 35+ hours this job 1-2 " " 34 10:4 64 1 What doing to find work #1 1 " ESR 3 35 10:5 65 1 #2 1 " " 36 10:6 66 1 #3 1 " " 37 11:1 67 1 #4 1 " " 38 11:2 68 1 #5 1 " " 39 11:3 69 1 #6 1 " ESR 4-7 40 11:4 70 1 #7 1 " ESR 3 41 11:5 71 1 Why started looking for work 1-5 " " 42 11:6 72 2 Weeks unemployed 00-99 " " 43 12:2 74 1 Looking for full or part-time 1-2 " " 44 12:3 75 1 Reason couldn't take job? (Y/N) 1-2 " " 45 12:4 76 (lists reason) 1-4 " ESR 4-7 or 44=yes 46 12:5 77 1 When last worked full-time 1-4 " ESR 3 47 12:6 78 1 When last worked for pay 1-7 " ESR 4-7 & outgoing 48 13:1 79 1 Why left that job? 1-8 " 47 is 5- years 49 13:2 80 1 Wants regular job now? 1-4 " ESR 4-7 & outgoing 50 13:3 81 1 Why not looking for work #1 1 " 49 = yes/maybe 51 13:4 82 1 Reason not looking #2 " All 49 = yes/maybe 52 13:5 83 1 #3 " " " 53 13:6 84 1 #4 " " " 54 14:1 85 1 #5 " " " 55 14:2 86 1 #6 " " " 56 14:3 87 1 #7 " " " 57 14:4 88 1 #8 " " " 58 14:5 89 1 #9 " " " 59 14:6 90 1 #10 " " " 60 15:1 91 1 #11 " " " 61 15:2 92 2 Intends to look in next 12 months? 1-4 " ESR 4-7 & outgoing 62 15:3 93 1 *Class of worker 1-5 " not ESR4-7,nonout 63 15:4 94 3 *Industry 17-937 " " 64 16:1 97 3 *Occupation 1-984 " " 65 16:4 100 2 Line number 1-39 " " 66 16:6 102 1 Relationship to head of household 1-6 " " 67 17:1 103 2 Age 14-99 " " 68 17:3 105 1 Marital status 1-5 " " 69 17:4 106 1 Race 1-3 " " 70 17:5 107 1 Sex 1-2 " " 71 17:6 108 1 Veteran status 1-6 " Males 72 18:1 109 2 Highest grade attended 1-19 " All 73 18:3 111 1 Grade completed? 1-2 " " 74 18:5 113 1 Family number for subdivided hhld 0-9 x77-84 " 75 19:1 115 1 Employment status recode 1-7 All " 76 19:3 117 1 Principal person of hhld? 0-1 " " 77 19:4 118 3 Document count 1-999 " " 78 20:4 124 2 Month 5 " " 79 20:6 126 1 Year (last digit) 0-9 " " 80 21:1 127 12 Weight (2 implied decimals) " " 81 24:4 148 3 Errors charged to enumerator 0-999 o69-72 " 82 25:1 151 1 Type of PSU (self representing?) 1-4 o73-76 " 83 26:1 157 3 Incidence of poverty in area 0-999 " " 84 26:4 160 1 SMSA size 1-5 " " 85 26:5 161 1 Ethnicity 1-10 x69-72 " 86 27:1 163 2 Age recode 1-17 All " 87 27:3 165 1 Residence recode (always missing) Never 88 27:4 166 1 Race recode 1-2 All " 89 27:5 167 1 Area recode 1-5 o73-76 " 90 27:6 168 1 Poverty area code 1-2 " " 91 28:1 169 1 Part-time status recode 0,5-6 All " 92 28:2 170 1 Race-sex recode 1-4 " " 93 28:3 171 1 Agricultural wage and salary? 0-1 x69-71 " 94 28:4 172 1 Civilian labor force status 3-4 All " 95 28:5 173 1 Full/part-time status 0-5 " " 96 28:6 174 1 Experienced labor force status 0-2 " " 97 29:1 175 1 Household relationship recode 1-9 " " 98 29:2 176 1 Employed class of worker 0-4 " " 99 29:3 177 1 Major occupation group 0-9 " " 100 29:4 178 1 Labor force by time worked 0-4 " " 101 29:5 179 1 Duration of unemployment 0-8 " " 102 29:6 180 2 In civilian labor force? 0-1 " " 103 30:1 181 1 Unemployed? 0-1 " " 104 30:2 182 1 Unemployed 15+ weeks? 0-1 " " 105 30:3 183 1 Other NILF? 0-1 " " 106 30:4 184 1 Full time labor force? 0-1 " " 107 30:5 185 1 Looking for full-time work? 0-1 " " 108 30:6 186 1 Wage and salary worker? 0-1 " " 109 31:1 187 1 Employed person? 0-1 " " 110 31:2 188 1 Employed(nonfarm, non-hhld work)? 0-1 " " 111 32:3 195 1 Experienced labor force? 0-1 " " 112 31:4 190 1 Full-time experienced labor force? 0-1 " " 113 32:S 192 I Full-time or economic-part-time? 0-1 " " 114 31:6 192 1 Nonfarm industry? 0-1 " " 115 32:1 193 1 Nonfarm wage and salary? 0-1 " " 116 32:2 194 1 Agriculture? 0-1 " " 117 32:3 195 1 White collar? 0-1 " " 118 32:4 196 1 Blue collar? 0-1 " " 119 32:5 197 1 Manufacturing, wage and salary? 0-1 " " 120 32:6 198 1 Private wage and salary? 0-1 " " 121 33:1 199 1 Part-time for noneconomic reasons? 0-1 " " 122 33:2 200 1 Seeking full time work? 0-1 " " 123 33:3 201 1 Unemployed-no previous experience? 0-1 " " 124 33:4 202 1 Full-time labor force recode 0,3-4 " " 125 33:5 203 1 Program signal 0 " " 126 33:6 204 2 Program signal 1 " " 127 34:3 207 2 Age-school recode 0,10-11 " " 128 34:5 209 2 Age recode 0-11 " " 129 35:1 211 2 Age-major activity recode 0-27 " " 130 35:3 213 2 Age recode 0-21 " " 131 35:5 215 2 Employed status-farm recode 1-10 " " 132 36:1 217 2 Marital status-age recode 0-42 " " 133 36:3 219 2 Marital status-activity recode 0-44 " " 134 36:5 221 2 *Major industry 0-22 x69-71 civ. labor force 135 37:1 223 2 Detailed class of worker 0-14 All All 136 37:3 225 2 Class-employed recode 0-8 " civ. labor force 137 37:5 227 2 *Major industry 0-20 " 138 38:1 229 2 *Detailed industry 0-51 " " 139 38:3 231 2 *Major occupation 1-13 " " 140 38:5 233 2 *Detailed occupation 0-44 " " 141 39:1 235 2 *Manufacturing industries 00-23 " " 142 39:3 237 2 Reason not working-hours recode 0-16 " All 143 39:5 239 2 Reason part time-hours recode 0-12 " ESR I & 34- hours 144 40:1 241 2 Detailed reason-hours recode 0-16 " " 145 *** *Covered by collective agreement 0-2 x69-77,82not union mem 146 40:3 243 2 Reason-pay status recode 0-12 All ESR=2 147 40:5 245 2 Program signal so 50 All All 148 41:1 247 2 Gross Change employment-industry 1-12 o73-76 " 149 41:3 249 2 G.C. expanded employment status 1-10 " " 150 41:5 251 1 G.C. intermed. emp. status 1-7 " " 151 41:6 252 2 G.C. industry 0-18 x73-76 All 152 42:2 254 2 G.C. employment-occupation 1-17 " All 153 42:4 256 1 G.C. age 0-4 " All 154 42:5 257 1 G.C. summary age O,S " All 155 42:6 258 1 G.C. duration of unemployment 0-9. " All 156 43:1 259 1 G.C. summary duration of unemp. 0-4 " All 157 43:2 260 2 G.C. duration by full-part time 0-17 " All 158 43:4 262 1 G.C. employment and NILF 0-7 " All 159 43:5 263 2 G.C. age-employment 0-13 " All 160 44:1 265 2 G.C. age-employment (restricted) 0-14 " 16-21 years 161 44:3 267 2 G.C. education-employment 0-12 " 18+ years 162 44:5 269 1 G.C. class-farm 0-7 " All 163 45:1 271 2 G.C. industry 0-18 " Employed 164 45:3 273 2 G.C. hours-at work 0-13 " All 165 45:5 275 1 G.C. full/part reason 4-7 " ESR=1 166 46:1 277 2 G.C. looking full/part - age 0-10 " ESR=3 167 61:3 369 1 Number under 18, related to head 0-9 x77,82-84All 168 61:5 371 1 Total family income 0-13 o72,74-81" 169 62:1 373 1 Usual weekly earnings 0-13 Worker, not s.e. 170 62:2 374 1 Work for 2+ employers? 0-1 x82-84 " 171 62:3 375 1 Operate own business? 0-1 " " 172 62:4 376 1 Have other job (not worked)? 0-1 " " 173 62:5 377 1 Check (40 or more hours) 0-1 " " 174 62:6 378 1 Get higher pay for over 40 hours? 0-1 " " 175 63:1 379 1 Usually work over 40 hours? 0-1 " " 176 63:2 380 1 Did X also work regular job? 0-1 " Self-employed 177 63:3 381 1 Another job, not worked? 0-2 " ESR=2 178 63:4 382 1 Another job, not worked? (recode) 0-1 " " 179 63:5 383 1 Was second job same? 0-1 " Dual job holders 180 63:6 384 1 Reason worked second job 1-9 " " 181 64:1 385 2 Hours worked second job 1-99 " " 182 64:3 387 2 Hours worked principal job 1-99 " " 183 64:5 389 1 Check/recode 0-3 o73-81 " 184 64:6 390 1 Days per week usually works (code) 0-8 " Worker, not s.e. 185 65:1 391 2 Hours per week usually works 0-99 x69-72 " 186 65:3 393 3 Usually weekly earnings 0-999 " " 187 65:6 396 1 Paid by the hour? 0-1 o" " 188 66:1 397 4 Earnings per hour (cents) 1-9999 " " 189 66:5 401 1 Belong to labor union? 0-1 " " 190 66:6 402 1 Who reported income data? 0-1 o75-78 " 191 67:1 403 2 Second industry recode 0-51 x82-84 Dual job holders 192 67:3 405 2 Second occupation recode 0-44 " 193 67:5 407 1 Secondary class of worker 1-4 " 194 67:6 408 1 Dual job/unpaid job recode 0-6 All 195 68:1 409 1 Time of day begins work 0-11 o73-81 Worker, not s.e. 196 68:2 410 1 AM/PM begins 0-1 " 197 68:3 411 1 Time of day ends work 0-11 " 198 68:4 412 1 AM/PM ends 0-1 " 199 61:6 372 1 Rotation group 3/other? 0-1 o75 All 200 *** Year 1969+ All Explanation of Code Variations (for variables with * in table) Variable Description x7,x9 Different state codes for 1969-72, 1973-1976 and 1977-84. Use x9 for 1973-76, x7 for other years. x11 Probably changed in 1971, 1983 Fewer SMSAs identified in some years than in others. x23 changes sporadically. x25 Probably different in 1976. x30 1973-75 missing values = 0 in other years. x62 1983-84 has more information (federal, stata and local employees identified as 3 distinct categories). x63,x64 Uses 1960, 70 and 80 Census codes (changing in 1971 and 1983). x134,x137-x141 1983-84 missing values = 0 in other years. x145 Changes sporadically ("Don't know" possible answer pre 1983, only "yes" or "no" for 1983-84). x194 1976-81 missing values = '6' for 1969-75. One major change to watch for concerns the Dual Job Supplement questions. Starting in 1979, the income variables (x186, x187, and x188) were only asked of one-quarter of the sample (those in outgoing rotation groups). Starting in 1981, all of the Dual Job Suppplement (variables x170-x198) was only asked for that one-quarter of the sample. The original files were prepared by an anonymous undergraduate and later by Wayne Gray. Doug Staiger converted them to .dta files. The series is not being extended because the chief interest in the May CPS was for the 'usual weekly earnings/hours' variable that moved to the outgoing rotation group in 1979. This documentation is derived from documentation distributed with the files when 1984 was the last year of the collection. It is possible that items listed above as ending in 1984 actually continue to later years. cpsmay.doc March 1, 1995