# Different numbers for IPUMS CPS and BLS?

**URL:** <https://forum.ipums.org/t/different-numbers-for-ipums-cps-and-bls/5431>\
**Category:** CPS\
**Created:** [September 1, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/different-numbers-for-ipums-cps-and-bls/5431 "2023-09-01T15:15:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lauren\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee7513/32.png) [@Lauren\_Parker](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Lauren_Parker)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/different-numbers-for-ipums-cps-and-bls/5431/1 "2023-09-01T15:15:24Z")

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Hi, I’m using the IPUMS SDA tool to pull estimates of total persons in labor force. I’m trying to match this BLS table: [https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat01.htm](https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat01.htm)

In SDA, I’m using year (row), labforce (column), filtering on age (16-100) and applying the sdawt person weight. But when I run this table, the estimates are different than the annual average BLS estimates.

For example, the SDA estimate for 2022 for people in the labor force is 163,996,774. The BLS estimate is 164,287,000. Am I missing a step? Thank you in advance!

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**Author:** ![Ivan\_Strahof](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/ivan_strahof/32/626_2.png) [@Ivan\_Strahof](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Ivan_Strahof)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/different-numbers-for-ipums-cps-and-bls/5431/2 "2023-09-05T15:22:00Z")

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There are two points to consider here. First is that the estimates in the table you link to are annual averages, whereas the IPUMS SDA tool only includes a single month of data from the March ASEC each year. Second is that researchers should weigh their observations using the composite person-level weight [COMPWT](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/variables/COMPWT#description_section) when replicating BLS estimates using CPS data. For further information on composite estimates, see [BLS’s weighting overview](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/technical-documentation/methodology/weighting.html) and the [technical documentation](https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/methodology/CPS-Tech-Paper-77.pdf).

In order to replicate these estimates, you will need to create a personal extract that includes all 2022 basic monthly samples and the variables you mention in your post as well as COMPWT. As explained [in this forum post](https://forum.ipums.org/t/calculating-racial-shares-of-employed-population/4749), you will also need to divide COMPWT by the number the sample months in your data (i.e. 12). You can refer to [this FAQ section](https://cps.ipums.org/cps-action/faq#group4) and [video tutorial](https://youtu.be/xKZollxUDJ4) if you encounter difficulty obtaining or analyzing IPUMS data.