Mapping Employment Projections and O*NET data: a methodological overview

Because of differences in data collection purposes and practices, combining data from different federal statistical programs that use the Standard Occupational Classification system can be complicated. This article addresses this problem by presenting a method for mapping occupational data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections program and the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Information Network. Researchers studying occupations often need to combine data from multiple sources. The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system facilitates such efforts by establishing a standard used by all federal statistical agencies. However, combining data from programs that implement the system differently can be complex. This article describes a method of mapping data from two key sources of detailed occupational information: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment Projections (EP) program and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Information Network (O*NET).