CPS Earnings Errors 1989 Official Reference

CPS
1

I’m looking for individual data on weekly earnings. Under comparability it states “The Census Bureau reports that the resulting public use files for this data series included errors for years prior to 1990, so only data from 1990 forward are part of IPUMS-CPS.”

Where does the Census state this? I’ve browsed their documentation on historical comparability and haven’t found it. In previous questions on related subjects staff said alternately that they would get back on it, and in another related question the staff implied that there were no errors but IPUMS planned to add the data later (if I understand correctly).

Could you please help me sort this out? I’m sure many people are similarly confused.

Much appreciated!

2

Thank you for contacting us to help clear up the confusion around the comparability of EARNWEEK prior to 1990. We are going to look into this further.

In the meantime, as noted in my response here, you could consult the data available on the NBER CPS Supplement Page.