Current Employment Statistics Preliminary Benchmark (State and Area) News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday, June 20, 2025 		                       USDL-25-XXXX

Technical information:  (202) 691-6559  *  sminfo@bls.gov    *  www.bls.gov/sae 
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


        CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS PRELIMINARY BENCHMARK (STATE AND AREA) -- MARCH 2025        
                  

The average absolute preliminary benchmark revision across all states and the District of 
Columbia was 0.6 percent for March 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Each year, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment estimates are benchmarked to 
comprehensive counts of employment from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). 
These counts are derived primarily from state unemployment insurance tax records that nearly all 
employers are required to file with state workforce agencies. Final benchmark data for all CES 
state and metropolitan area series are scheduled to be released in March 2026 with the January 
2026 State Employment and Unemployment news release. The final benchmark will reflect revisions 
to all not seasonally adjusted data from April 2024 to December 2025, all seasonally adjusted 
data from January 2021 to December 2025, and select series subject to historical revisions 
before April 2024. //PRESAE ZUNI3PO 09/04/2025//

Summary of revisions at the state level

The average absolute preliminary benchmark revision across all states and the District of Columbia 
was 0.6 percent for March 2025. Compared with sample-based estimates, preliminary benchmark levels 
were lower in 33 states for March 2025 and higher in 17 states and the District. For all states 
and the District, the preliminary benchmark revisions to total nonfarm employment for March 2025 
ranged from -2.5 percent in Colorado to +1.2 percent in Arizona, Maryland, and Tennessee. The 
average preliminary revision across all states was -0.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Summary of revisions for large metropolitan areas

The average absolute preliminary benchmark revision across all the 56 metropolitan areas with a 
2020 Census population of 1 million or more was 0.6 percent for March 2025. Compared with 
sample-based estimates, preliminary benchmark levels were higher in 32 areas for March 2025 and 
lower in 24 areas. Among these large metropolitan areas, the preliminary benchmark revisions to 
total nonfarm employment for March 2025 ranged from -2.7 percent in 
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, to +2.0 percent in Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL; 
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX; and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA. The average preliminary 
revision across all large metropolitan areas was 0.0 percent. (See table 2.)

Technical Note

This news release presents preliminary benchmark revisions to total nonfarm employment estimates 
from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 
and metropolitan areas with a Census 2020 population of 1 million or more. The CES program is a 
federal-state cooperative endeavor.

Each year, CES employment estimates are benchmarked to comprehensive counts of employment from 
the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. These counts are derived primarily 
from state unemployment insurance (UI) tax reports that nearly all employers are required to file 
with state workforce agencies. While most firms are required to pay UI tax for their employees, 
there are some types of employees that are exempt from UI tax law but are still within scope for 
the CES. Because these employees are not included in the QCEW, CES uses several other sources to 
generate counts of this noncovered employment. More information on noncovered employment is 
available in the CES Handbook of Methods at 
www.bls.gov/opub/hom/ces/calculation.htm#noncovered-employment.

Method of calculation

Preliminary benchmark revisions are calculated for March of the current year. Noncovered employment 
levels for the upcoming benchmark are not available for the release of the preliminary benchmark 
revisions. Therefore, the preliminary benchmark revision is calculated by adding the previous 
year’s March noncovered employment level to the current year’s March QCEW employment and 
subtracting the current year’s March CES estimate of employment: 

Preliminary benchmark revision = (previous year March noncovered employment + current year March 
QCEW employment) – current year March CES employment estimate

Final benchmark revisions are issued each March with the publication of the January State 
Employment and Unemployment news release. For more information on the CES benchmarking process for 
states and metropolitan areas, see www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.htm.

Additional information

Estimates of nonfarm payroll employment, hours, and earnings from the CES program for states and 
metropolitan areas are available online at www.bls.gov/sae. Historical data for preliminary and 
final benchmark revisions are available for download at 
www.bls.gov/sae/publications/preliminary-benchmark-announcement.htm#HistoricalData. 

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