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 controlling to new statewide totals.
Modeled Areas
On March 1, 2013, the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program
released 2012 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 2008. (For more information about
SSA, please see the question and
answer page.) The updated population controls reflect U.S. Census Bureau
revisions from April 2010 forward.
Statewide data for Puerto Rico were revised back to 2000 to incorporate new population controls.
Seasonally-adjusted data were affected from January 2000 forward, while not-seasonally-adjusted data
were affected from July 2000 forward.
All annual average and historical supplemental items on the website containing data for model-based areas,
including data files, rank tables, and maps, were updated to reflect these revisions on March 1.
Substate Areas
On April 19, 2013, routine revisions were made to data from 2008 through 2012 for geographic areas below the State level (other than the model-based
areas noted above), and official annual averages for 2012 were issued. For all areas, estimation inputs were revised back to 2011, while the
revisions for 2008–10 consisted of controlling to the new State totals described above. Substate data for Puerto Rico were revised back to 2000 to
reflect controlling to the Commonwealth's new totals described above. The extent and scope of the substate 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 March 29, 2013, corrections were made to labor force and employment levels and unemployment rates for Nebraska and, to a lesser extent, the six other
states in the West North Central division (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota). These corrections affected monthly estimates
from January 2008 through December 2012 and annual average estimates for 2008–2012, and were due to a minor error in the model re-estimation process.
On May 29, 2013, mostly minor corrections were made to January and February 2013 labor force and unemployment estimates for all substate areas in New Mexico.
Last Modified Date: May 29, 2013
