JAN. 14, 2022 — Given the historical circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy, combined with the urgent need for workforce data, the U.S. Census Bureau has decided to defer the introduction of updated confidentiality protections and release the January 2022 Current Population Survey Public Use File (CPS PUF) in February 2022 as originally scheduled.

The 2022 CPS PUF will retain characteristics of the 2021 CPS PUF that enable data users to conduct year-over-year time series analysis and other research activities key to understanding the U.S. economy and workforce, specifically the public-use file household identifier. This adjustment reflects a change to the 2022 CPS PUF annual announcement that indicated there would be a delay while additional protections were applied to the data.

As it does every year, the Census Bureau will continue to strengthen the methods to protect the confidentiality of data provided by CPS respondents. New protections will be introduced in a phased approach beginning later this year that will preserve the CPS time series and better prepare data users for the changes. The revised announcement summarizes the features of the 2022 CPS PUF and planned future adjustments.

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