by Calculated Risk on 9/18/2014 10:14:00 AM

This morning the BLS released the preliminary annual benchmark revision showing an additional 7,000 payroll jobs as of March 2014. The final revision will be published next February when the January 2015 employment report is released in February 2015. Usually the preliminary estimate is pretty close to the final benchmark estimate.

The annual revision is benchmarked to state tax records. From the BLS:

In 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 benchmark revision will be issued in February 2015, with the publication of the January 2015 Employment Situation news release.

Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey employment estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment for the month of March. These counts are derived primarily from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax records that nearly all employers are required to file. For national CES employment series, the annual benchmark revisions over the last 10 years have averaged plus or minus three-tenths of one percent of total nonfarm employment. The preliminary estimate of the benchmark revision indicates an upward adjustment to March 2014 total nonfarm employment of 7,000 (less than 0.05 percent). ...

Using the preliminary benchmark estimate, this means that payroll employment in March 2014 was 7,000 higher than originally estimated. In February 2015, the payroll numbers will be revised up to reflect this estimate. The number is then "wedged back" to the previous revision (March 2013).

There are 89,000 more construction jobs than originally estimated.

This preliminary estimate showed an additional 47,000 private sector jobs, and 40,000 fewer government jobs (as of March 2014).