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Current Employment Statistics - CES (National)

The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces detailed industry estimates of nonfarm employment, hours, and earnings of workers on payrolls. CES National Estimates produces data for the nation, and CES State and Metro Area produces estimates for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and about 450 metropolitan areas and divisions.

Each month, CES surveys approximately 145,000 businesses and government agencies, representing approximately 697,000 individual worksites.

Notices

  • The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the Employment Situation for August 2020 Read More »
  • 2020 CES Preliminary Benchmark Revision Read More »
  • BLS modified the Current Employment Statistics net birth-death model in order to reflect changes in the relationship between business births and deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More »

Charts

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Next Release

  • The Employment Situation for September 2020 is scheduled to be released on October 2, 2020, at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.
  • Real Earnings for September 2020 is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2020, at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.
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News Releases

Nonfarm payroll employment rises by 1.4 million in August; unemployment rate falls to 8.4%

09/04/2020

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 1.4 million in August, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the pandemic, as well as hiring for the 2020 Census.
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Real average hourly earnings are unchanged over the month in August

09/11/2020

Real average hourly earnings were unchanged over the month in August, seasonally adjusted. Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 percent and CPI-U increased 0.4 percent. Real average weekly earnings increased 0.3 percent over the month.
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Publications

The Economics Daily

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Real average hourly earnings up 3.7 percent, July 2019–July 2020

Real (adjusted for inflation) average hourly earnings increased 3.7 percent from July 2019 to July 2020, after increasing 4.1 percent over year ended June 2020. The recent large increases in hourly earnings reflect the substantial job loss among lower-paid workers as a result of the COVID-19 closures. read more »

Monthly Labor Review

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Geographic impact of COVID-19 in BLS surveys by industry

The local spread of coronavirus-19 has disproportionally affected employment across industries. read more »

Beyond the Numbers

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The 2020 census and CES employment

This Beyond the Numbers article describes how census workers affect CES employment estimates. Typically, a mass movement of workers onto—and then off of—the Census Bureau payroll occurs around the turn of every decade. read more »

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Latest Numbers

RSS

Change in Total Nonfarm Payroll Employment: +1,371,000(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Change in Total Private Average Hourly Earnings for All Employees: +$0.11(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Change in Total Private Average Weekly Hours for All Employees: +0.1(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Percent change in Total Private Aggregate Weekly Hours for All Employees: +1.2%(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Change in Manufacturing Average Weekly Hours for All Employees: +0.3(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Change in Manufacturing Average Weekly Overtime for All Employees: +0.1(p) in Aug 2020 Historical Data

Change in Total Private Real Average Hourly Earnings for All Employees: unchanged in Aug 2020 Historical Data

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