Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the QWI topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State analysts explain QWI and QCEW methods for measuring turnover
Summary
Christian Harris demonstrated how QWI and QCEW can be combined to study employer turnover, showing methods (stable QWI and four-quarter averages) used to remove seasonality and comparing New York State to national turnover rates by industry.
Christian Harris described how the Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI), together with Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) benchmarking, provides a practical way to assess employer turnover at substate levels. He said analysts commonly use "stable" QWI and four-quarter averages to reduce seasonality and to identify persistent trends rather than temporary seasonal shifts.
"So I quickly went over to the QWI, quarterly workforce indicators, and pulled the information," Harris said, recounting how a manufacturer in Chenango County used the data to benchmark its turnover relative to peers. He noted that QCEW administrative records are legally required reporting and are used as a benchmark when revisions occur.
Why it matters: QWI allows states to break turnover into hires, separations and replacements by industry and geography, giving employers and workforce boards actionable diagnostics for recruitment and retention strategies.
