DATA FILE · DF-003

Payroll Employment — Monthly Job Change

How many nonfarm payroll jobs changed this month, and how did later reports revise the previous estimate?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Last verified Oct 9, 2026

Latest reading

+29.0 thousands of payroll jobs, change from preceding month

Measurement period: September 2026
Release date: Oct 2, 2026
Frequency: Monthly
Seasonal adjustment: Seasonally adjusted

September's first estimate is an increase of 29,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. August's initial increase of 162,000 was revised to 133,000. BLS described September payroll employment as having changed little. These are job changes, not unemployment rates or counts of unique people.

Open the primary data release (opens in a new tab)

Previous period and revision

Measurement period: August 2026
Previously released value: +162.0
Revised value: +133.0
Revision release date: Oct 2, 2026

Values use the same unit shown above. A revision changes the estimate for an earlier period; it is not a new reporting period’s reading.

Read the original previous-period release (opens in a new tab)

What this measures

Net monthly change in nonfarm payroll jobs measured by the establishment survey. Positive values indicate more payroll jobs than in the preceding month; values are in thousands.

What it does not establish

It is not the household unemployment rate, a count of all employed people, or gross hiring. It excludes several kinds of work, including self-employment. It does not alone establish job quality, household purchasing power or the cause of a change.

Methodology

Underlying series CES0000000001: Current Employment Statistics, all employees, total nonfarm, seasonally adjusted, in thousands. Displayed transformation is the month-to-month difference in that level, as published by BLS, retaining each release vintage. CES surveys business and government establishments; a person with two payroll jobs can be counted twice. Estimates are revised as additional reports arrive and seasonal factors are recalculated, with annual benchmarking. This file records September's first estimate and August's first and second estimates, not final values.

Observation history and release vintages

September 2026

First released value: +29.0
Original release date: Oct 2, 2026

First estimate, subject to later revision. CES job change; not a CPS measure.

Original release (opens in a new tab)

August 2026

First released value: +162.0
Original release date: Sep 4, 2026
Revised value: +133.0
Revision release date: Oct 2, 2026

August's first estimate of +162,000 jobs was revised to +133,000 on October 2. The revised estimate was not available on September 4.

Original and second estimates retained separately. The current database level must not be mistaken for the original vintage.

Original release (opens in a new tab)Revision source (opens in a new tab)

Next scheduled release

Nov 6, 2026. The agency’s release calendar controls the schedule.

Read the Related Article

September Jobs Report: 29,000 Jobs, 4.2% Unemployment, and What the Measures Show

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