Question: What is a benchmark of payroll survey estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey?

Answer: Benchmark revisions, which are usually published in early June, are a standard part of the payroll survey estimation process. The benchmark adjustment is a once-a-year re-anchoring of the sample-based employment estimates to full population counts available principally through unemployment insurance (UI) tax records filed by employers with State Employment Security Agencies. By early November of each year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) completes preliminary tabulations of these universe counts for the first quarter of the year and routinely shares that information with the public at the time of the issuance of the October Employment Situation news release.

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