The Economy & the Fed

Jobs Report Revisions

The first payroll figure for a month is an estimate built from the surveys returned in time. In each of the next two reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics revises it as late responses arrive and seasonal adjustments are updated, and once a year it re-anchors the whole series to near-complete tax records, a “benchmark revision.” Revisions of tens of thousands of jobs are normal, so a single month’s figure is less certain than it looks, and markets read the revisions to earlier months alongside the new number.

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