QCEW Revisions : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages > Home

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
Table 2. Initial and revised total employment levels, United States
Table 3. Initial and revised total wage levels, United States (in millions of $)

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
2019 Q3	10,325,274	10,287,714	10,275,524	[2]	[2]	10,275,524	-49,750	-0.5
2019 Q4	10,384,120	10,363,818	[2]	[2]	[2]	10,363,818	-20,302	-0.2
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	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]
2023 Q2	11,964,606	11,878,843	[3]	[3]	[2]	[3]	[3]	[3]
2023 Q3	12,026,378	[3]	[3]	[2]	[2]	[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
Sep. 2019	148,556,525	148,655,575	148,701,484	[2]	[2]	148,701,484	144,959	0.1
Dec. 2019	149,857,130	150,005,303	[2]	[2]	[2]	150,005,303	148,173	0.1
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	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]
Jun. 2023	154,308,523	154,421,979	[3]	[3]	[2]	[3]	[3]	[3]
Sep. 2023	153,772,811	[3]	[3]	[2]	[2]	[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
2019 Q3	2,101,500	2,102,040	2,102,342	[2]	[2]	2,102,342	842	0.0
2019 Q4	2,308,325	2,309,327	[2]	[2]	[2]	2,309,327	1,002	0.0
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	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]	[3]
2023 Q2	2,656,499	2,657,479	[3]	[3]	[2]	[3]	[3]	[3]
2023 Q3	2,653,972	[3]	[3]	[2]	[2]	[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: May 14, 2024