The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual mail survey of employers that measures occupational employment and occupational wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments, by industry. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 41,400 establishments. Each year, forms are mailed to two semiannual panels of approximately 6,900 sampled establishments, one panel in May and the other in November.

The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program (also known as ES-202) collects employment and wage data from employers covered by New York State's Unemployment Insurance (UI) Law. This program is a cooperative program with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW data encompass approximately 97 percent of New York's nonfarm employment, providing a virtual census of employees and their wages as well as the most complete universe of employment and wage data, by industry, at the State, regional and county levels. "Covered" employment refers broadly to both private-sector employees as well as state, county, and municipal government employees insured under the New York State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Act. Federal employees are insured under separate laws, but are considered covered for the purposes of the program. Employee categories not covered by UI include some agricultural workers, railroad workers, private household workers, student workers, the self-employed, and unpaid family workers. QCEW data are similar to monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) data in that they reflect jobs by place of work; therefore, if a person holds two jobs, he or she is counted twice. However, since the QCEW program, by definition, only measures employment covered by unemployment insurance laws, its totals will not be the same as CES employment totals due to the employee categories excluded by UI. Industry level data from 1975 to 2000 is reflective of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.