A significant difference between the two surveys is that the Household Survey accounts for those who are self-employed, and small emerging businesses that may be overlooked by the Payroll Survey.

The payroll survey lags when it comes to small business employment, especially for new small businesses. It not only fails to accurately count the self-employed, but it can miss employees hired to work for newly created businesses. For example, if you open a new computer store and hire a few people to work for you, none of your jobs are likely to be counted by the payroll survey because it looks at established businesses. The household survey is conducted monthly by the Census bureau.