Important Information

Annual Revisions

Each year, historical labor force estimates are revised to reflect new Census Bureau population controls, updated input data, and reestimation. The model-based estimates also incorporate new seasonal adjustment, and the unadjusted estimates are controlled to new census division and U.S. totals. Substate area data are revised to incorporate updated inputs, reestimation, and new statewide controls.

Modeled Areas

On February 25, the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program released 2010 annual average labor force estimates for census regions and divisions; all States and the District of Columbia; the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division, the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division, the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL Metropolitan Division, the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, New York city, NY, the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division, as well as the seven corresponding balance-of-state areas. As described above, the data incorporate new population controls, updated inputs, reestimation of models, and adjustment to new census division and national control totals. Both not-seasonally-adjusted and smoothed-seasonally-adjusted (SSA) monthly data were revised back to January 2006. (For more information about SSA, please see the question and answer page.) The updated population controls reflect the annual updating of population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. Seasonally-adjusted statewide data for Puerto Rico were revised back to 2006, but no revisions were made to the not-seasonally-adjusted data.

In addition, smoothed-seasonally-adjusted data for Michigan were revised for all of the months of 1998 and 2001. Data for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area and the balance of Michigan were not affected.

All annual average and historical supplemental items on the website containing data for States, including data files, rank tables, and maps, were updated to reflect these revisions on or shortly after February 25.

Substate Areas

On April 19, routine annual revisions were made to data for 2006-10 for geographic areas below the State level (other than the model-based areas noted above), and official annual averages for 2010 were issued. For most States, estimation inputs were revised back to 2009, while the revisions for 2006-08 consisted of recontrolling to the new State totals described above. About a dozen states corrected inputs for at least some of their substate areas back to 2005, resulting in mostly minor data changes, while two other states--Arizona and New Mexico--corrected inputs for their substate areas back to 2000. The extent and scope of the data revisions were footnoted within the time-series database. Furthermore, all supplemental items on the LAUS homepage containing data for substate areas were updated to reflect these revisions.

Corrections

On April 19, mostly minor corrections were made to January 2011 estimates for areas in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

On June 1, corrections were made to the following substate area estimates:

• All areas in Idaho for 2006, primarily employment in the Moscow, ID Micropolitan Statistical Area
• All areas in Washington and two areas in Oregon for 2006 due to the Idaho corrections
• All areas in South Carolina for 2006–08 and January 2011, primarily unemployment; also, three areas that South Carolina shares with adjacent States
• All areas in California, primarily employment in the El Centro metropolitan area for January 2009–February 2011, and the Stockton metropolitan area for January 2011
• All areas in Alabama and three areas in Georgia for February 2011

On July 22, corrections were made to unemployment estimates for Washington State's cities and city parts for all of 2010.

Last Modified Date: July 22, 2011