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February 2026 monthly data are now available. IPUMS CPS has not yet processed the re-released January 2026 data. October 2025 data were not collected during the U.S. federal government shutdown.
LNKFW1MWT
Longitudinal weight for two adjacent months (BMS only)
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Codes

LNKFW1MWT is a 14-digit numeric variable with four implied decimals. That is, 12345678901234 should be interpreted as 1234567890.1234. The IPUMS command files automatically make the necessary adjustment, so no further adjustment is needed.
LNKFW1MWT is 0 for individuals that do not appear in all the required months. In addition, LNKFW1MWT is 0 for observations not in universe.

Description

LNKFW1MWT is a longitudinal weight for linking adjacent months of the CPS.

LNKFW1MWT is not available in samples that cannot be linked to the month after using CPSIDP. See Drew et al., 2014 for more information on the CPS panel and linking respondents across months using CPSIDP.

Researchers interested in replicating published BLS labor force estimates should use COMPWT. When analyzing ASEC data, researchers should use the person weight ASECWT. For analyses including the variables EARNWEEK, HOURWAGE, PAIDHOUR, and UNION, researchers should use the EARNWT variable.

Comparability

LNKFW1MWT is comparable across all available samples.

Universe

  • Those individuals who are eligible to link to the next month.

Availability

Years Jan Feb ASEC Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1976 X X - X X X X X X X X X -
1977 - X - X - X - - - - - - X
1978 – 1984 X X - X X X X X X X X X X
1985 X X - X X X - X X - X X X
1986 – 1994 X X - X X X X X X X X X X
1995 X X - X X - X X - X X X X
1996 – 2024 X X - X X X X X X X X X X
2025 X X - X X X X X X - - X X
2026 X - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flags

This variable has no flags.

Unharmonized Variables

No variables available