Current Employment Statistics Benchmark Article

Benchmark Article
BLS Establishment Estimates Revised to Incorporate March 2010 Benchmarks
Introduction
Summary of the benchmark revisions
Revisions in the post-benchmark period
Corrected historical CES data for the other federal government series
Other changes to the CES published series
Why benchmarks differ from estimates
Benchmark revision effects for other data types
Methods
Introduction of quarterly net birth/death adjustments
Availability of revised data
Small domain model
Seasonal adjustment procedure
Special model adjustments
Seasonal adjustment of new all employee hours and earning series

Introduction
Jennifer M. Harris
Jennifer M. Harris is an economist in the Division of Current Employment Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment
Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telephone: (202) 691-6555; e-mail: CESInfo@bls.gov
With the release of data for January 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) introduced its annual revision of national estimates of
employment, hours, and earnings from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) monthly survey of nonfarm establishments. Each
year, the CES survey realigns its sample-based estimates to incorporate universe counts of employment—a process known as
1benchmarking. Comprehensive counts of employment, or benchmarks, are derived primarily from unemployment insurance (UI) tax
reports that nearly all employers are required to file with State Workforce ...