The BLS issued the March 2026 preliminary benchmark revision for total nonfarm payrolls as a downward revision of 79,000. The size of the 2026 preliminary revision is substantially smaller than the past few years. The final revision for 2025 was down 898,000 and 2024 was down 598,000.
Total nonfarm payrolls have a strong tendency to be revised lower from the numbers in the monthly reports as the BLS incorporates data from state agencies. The benchmark revision will be applied with the January 2027 data in the monthly report set for release in February 2027. It is likely that the preliminary number will be revised somewhat.
Note that the BLS release says the preliminary annual revision for private payrolls is down 178,000 for March 2026. This points to an upward revision in government hiring of around 100,000 which may be in part accounted for in recruitment of ICE enforcers and possibly some restaffing after aggressive cutbacks at federal agencies.

