Bureau of Labor Statistics
CES Preliminary Benchmark AnnouncementIn accordance with usual practice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is announcing the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark revision to the establishment survey employment series. The final CES benchmark revision will be published on February 6, 2009, with the publication of the January 2009 Employment Situation news release. Each year, the establishment survey employment estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment for the month of March derived from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file. For national level employment series, the annual benchmark revisions over the last 10 years have averaged plus or minus two-tenths of one percent at the total nonfarm level. The preliminary estimate of the benchmark revision shows that there was an accumulated overstatement of CES employment between March 2007 and March 2008 of 21,000 (0.02 percent of total nonfarm employment in March 2008). Table 1 below shows the preliminary benchmark revisions by industry for March 2008. As is typically the case, many of the individual industry series show larger percentage revisions than the total nonfarm series, primarily because statistical sampling error is greater at more detailed levels than at a total level.
Last Modified Date: October 3, 2008
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