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Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

Overview of QCEW Revisions

All QCEW data undergo a process of revision. The number of revisions depends on the data's reference quarter. For the first quarter of each year, QCEW data are published five times. The data are first released in September of the reference year followed by a revision in December and then three more revisions in March, June, and September of the subsequent year. Second-quarter data are published four times, first in December of the reference year, and then through revisions in March, June, and September of the subsequent year. Third-quarter data are published three times, first in March of the subsequent year, and then through revisions in June and September. And finally, fourth-quarter data are published two times, first in June of the subsequent year, and then through a single revision in September.

As shown in the tables below, the magnitude of revisions is correlated with the number of times the data get revised, whereby first-quarter data tend to get revised the most and fourth-quarter data tend to get revised the least. However, the magnitude of revisions is always relatively small. In any given quarter, the establishment count rarely changes more than +/- 1% from initial to final publication, and employment and wage levels rarely change more than +/- 0.1%.

Downloadable Data

Data that track changes to establishment, employment, and wage totals at the national and state levels are available for download. This dataset goes back to the first quarter of 2017 and is updated after each QCEW news release:

  • Download national and state-level revision data (2017 - Present): CSV

Tables

The tables below detail QCEW revisions in recent years for the United States across all ownerships and industries. These tables are updated quarterly with the publication of new QCEW data.

Table 1. Initial and revised counts of total establishments, United States[1]
Quarter Initial Value 1st Revised Value 2nd Revised Value 3rd Revised Value 4th Revised Value Final Value Final - Initial Percent Change

2020 Q1

10,447,240 10,412,612 10,383,788 10,362,825 10,355,102 10,355,102 -92,138 -0.9

2020 Q2

10,450,970 10,430,780 10,401,840 10,383,036 [2] 10,383,036 -67,934 -0.7

2020 Q3

10,561,340 10,539,341 10,515,058 [2] [2] 10,515,058 -46,282 -0.4

2020 Q4

10,675,800 10,697,552 [2] [2] [2] 10,697,552 21,752 0.2

2021 Q1

10,755,389 10,706,578 10,691,780 10,666,426 10,655,451 10,655,451 -99,938 -0.9

2021 Q2

10,863,217 10,857,152 10,826,949 10,814,259 [2] 10,814,259 -48,958 -0.5

2021 Q3

11,021,414 11,006,576 10,988,319 [2] [2] 10,988,319 -33,095 -0.3

2021 Q4

11,194,120 11,178,274 [2] [2] [2] 11,178,274 -15,846 -0.1

2022 Q1

11,299,030 11,294,919 11,281,490 11,281,736 11,273,186 11,273,186 -25,844 -0.2

2022 Q2

11,460,819 11,445,290 11,453,208 11,444,566 [2] 11,444,566 -16,253 -0.1

2022 Q3

11,608,876 11,621,394 11,604,587 [2] [2] 11,604,587 -4,289 -0.0

2022 Q4

11,785,706 11,754,909 [2] [2] [2] 11,754,909 -30,797 -0.3

2023 Q1

11,883,196 11,841,874 11,820,143 11,787,278 11,766,298 11,766,298 -116,898 -1.0

2023 Q2

11,964,606 11,878,843 11,829,270 11,785,717 [2] 11,785,717 -178,889 -1.5

2023 Q3

12,026,378 11,958,748 11,903,784 [2] [2] 11,903,784 -122,594 -1.0

2023 Q4

12,090,132 12,009,425 [2] [2] [2] 12,009,425 -80,707 -0.7

2024 Q1

12,169,000 [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]

[1] Includes the District of Columbia. Excludes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

[2] Not applicable; Data do not undergo this revision.

[3] Not yet published.

Table 2. Initial and revised total employment levels, United States[1]
Month Initial Value 1st Revised Value 2nd Revised Value 3rd Revised Value 4th Revised Value Final Value Final - Initial Percent Change

Mar. 2020

147,088,945 147,081,145 147,081,109 147,089,751 147,065,115 147,065,115 -23,830 -0.0

Jun. 2020

135,114,354 135,049,331 135,134,918 135,045,869 [2] 135,045,869 -68,485 -0.1

Sep. 2020

138,549,503 138,739,944 138,722,896 [2] [2] 138,722,896 173,393 0.1

Dec. 2020

140,881,253 141,000,256 [2] [2] [2] 141,000,256 119,003 0.1

Mar. 2021

140,455,819 140,606,898 140,630,418 140,590,554 140,589,959 140,589,959 134,140 0.1

Jun. 2021

144,044,799 144,199,481 144,184,114 144,185,813 [2] 144,185,813 141,014 0.1

Sep. 2021

144,863,915 145,059,881 145,071,052 [2] [2] 145,071,052 207,137 0.1

Dec. 2021

148,293,597 148,407,894 [2] [2] [2] 148,407,894 114,297 0.1

Mar. 2022

147,648,359 147,781,400 147,815,124 147,815,394 147,775,977 147,775,977 127,618 0.1

Jun. 2022

149,901,995 150,541,452 150,658,220 150,675,725 [2] 150,675,725 773,730 0.5

Sep. 2022

151,239,638 151,498,101 151,524,979 [2] [2] 151,524,979 285,341 0.2

Dec. 2022

152,317,914 152,525,285 [2] [2] [2] 152,525,285 207,371 0.1

Mar. 2023

151,418,052 151,528,335 151,550,657 151,543,636 151,569,737 151,569,737 151,685 0.1

Jun. 2023

154,308,523 154,421,979 154,428,358 154,459,630 [2] 154,459,630 151,107 0.1

Sep. 2023

153,772,811 154,027,988 154,059,660 [2] [2] 154,059,660 286,849 0.2

Dec. 2023

154,848,113 155,014,465 [2] [2] [2] 155,014,465 166,352 0.1

Mar. 2024

153,585,576 [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]

[1] Includes the District of Columbia. Excludes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

[2] Not applicable; Data do not undergo this revision.

[3] Not yet published.

Table 3. Initial and revised total wage levels, United States (in millions of $)[1]
Quarter Initial Value 1st Revised Value 2nd Revised Value 3rd Revised Value 4th Revised Value Final Value Final - Initial Percent Change

2020 Q1

2,341,897 2,340,374 2,340,031 2,339,888 2,339,428 2,339,428 -2,470 -0.1

2020 Q2

2,023,775 2,023,567 2,023,788 2,023,547 [2] 2,023,547 -228 -0.0

2020 Q3

2,086,215 2,087,105 2,086,886 [2] [2] 2,086,886 671 0.0

2020 Q4

2,453,931 2,455,747 [2] [2] [2] 2,455,747 1,816 0.1

2021 Q1

2,336,244 2,335,488 2,335,656 2,335,710 2,335,660 2,335,660 -583 -0.0

2021 Q2

2,308,339 2,309,671 2,309,719 2,309,683 [2] 2,309,683 1,344 0.1

2021 Q3

2,347,435 2,347,996 2,348,241 [2] [2] 2,348,241 806 0.0

2021 Q4

2,726,086 2,727,378 [2] [2] [2] 2,727,378 1,291 0.0

2022 Q1

2,621,224 2,622,652 2,622,990 2,622,964 2,623,077 2,623,077 1,853 0.1

2022 Q2

2,517,904 2,519,073 2,519,285 2,519,113 [2] 2,519,113 1,209 0.0

2022 Q3

2,609,770 2,612,161 2,612,347 [2] [2] 2,612,347 2,577 0.1

2022 Q4

2,742,401 2,745,200 [2] [2] [2] 2,745,200 2,799 0.1

2023 Q1

2,873,835 2,874,415 2,874,583 2,874,742 2,875,278 2,875,278 1,442 0.1

2023 Q2

2,656,499 2,657,479 2,658,054 2,658,473 [2] 2,658,473 1,974 0.1

2023 Q3

2,653,972 2,657,443 2,657,693 [2] [2] 2,657,693 3,721 0.1

2023 Q4

2,886,735 2,889,824 [2] [2] [2] 2,889,824 3,089 0.1

2024 Q1

3,035,292 [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]

[1] Includes the District of Columbia. Excludes Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

[2] Not applicable; Data do not undergo this revision.

[3] Not yet published.


Last Modified Date: September 4, 2024