Data watch - The redesigned current population survey

The Current Population Survey (CPS), a national survey of 50,000 households, is a major source of information about the American labor market. In January 1994, the CPS underwent a major redesign both in the wording of the questionnaire and the methodology used to collect the data. This article reviews the motivation for the redesign, compares several key CPS estimates before and after the implementation of the new survey, and explains some of the new data collected in the redesigned CPS.