July 2008 Job Count for the Boston Area
Rose Over the Year
Total nonfarm employment in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan area1 stood at 2,501,200 in July 2008, an increase of 18,900 jobs over the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. From July 2007 to July 2008, nonfarm employment rose 0.8 percent in the local area compared to a 0.1-percent decline nationwide. Regional Commissioner Denis M. McSweeney noted that the increase posted in July was a continuation of a long-term trend of over-the-year job gains that began in July 2004. (See chart A and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)
Chart A. Total nonfarm employment, over-the-year percent change in the United States and the Boston metropolitan area, July 2002 - 2008
1 Areas in the six New England states are defined as Metropolitan New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs), while areas in other states are county-based and identified as metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions. However, for comparative purposes, the Boston NECTA and its divisions have been referred to as a metropolitan area and metropolitan divisions. See technical note for more information on the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy NECTA.
Metropolitan divisions
The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area is comprised of nine metropolitan divisions - separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy division, the largest of the nine, added 19,000 jobs to its payrolls between July 2007 and July 2008. Employment in the remaining eight divisions, for the most part, was little changed over-the-year. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy division accounted for 69 percent of the workforce in July 2008.
Industry employment
In the Boston area, the education and health services supersector experienced the largest employment gain, adding 10,900 jobs over the year, an increase of 2.4 percent. Employment in this supersector also rose nationally, up 3.1 percent since July 2007. Education and health services was the largest industry in the Boston metropolitan area in July 2008, with 19 percent of total employment.
Chart B. Over-the-year percent change in employment by selected industry supersector, United States and the Boston metropolitan area, July 2008
Three other local supersectors recorded employment gains in the Boston area from July 2007 to July 2008. Professional and business services added 7,900 jobs, a 1.9-percent increase; nationwide this industry declined -0.4 percent. Employment in leisure and hospitality rose by 4,300, or 1.9 percent; this compared to a 1.3-percent increase in the supersector nationally. Public sector employment grew by 2,900, a gain of 1.0 percent. Nationwide, government grew at a faster pace, advancing 1.7 percent.
Job losses in the Boston area were limited to three supersectors. Manufacturing posted the largest decline, down 2,600, or 1.2 percent over the year, continuing a trend of over-the-year losses in this industry that began in March 2001. Construction employment decreased by 2,300, or 2.2 percent. Nationally, jobs in this industry declined at a faster rate, down 6.1 percent. Financial activities employment in the Boston metropolitan area fell by 1,300, a decrease of 0.7 percent, with none of the job loss occurring in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy division.
Twelve largest metropolitan areas
The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area was one of the nation's 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in July 2008. Of the 12, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington registered the fastest rate of employment growth, up 2.3 percent from July 2007, closely followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 2.2 percent. Four other areas experienced job growth during the 12-month period: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (1.2 percent), Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (0.8 percent), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (0.3 percent), and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (0.1 percent). Employment in another area, Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, was unchanged over the year. Nationally, however, jobs were on the decline, slipping by 0.1 percent. (See chart C.)
The percentage loss in jobs exceeded that for the nation in five of the largest metropolitan areas: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta (-0.2 percent), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (-0.5 percent), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (-0.6 percent), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (-0.8 percent), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-1.9 percent).
Dallas, the area with the fastest annual growth rate in July 2008, also added the largest number of jobs over the year, 68,000, followed by Houston with the addition of 57,100 jobs. Washington, D.C. was a more distant third, adding 35,400 to its count. The largest numeric declines in employment occurred in Los Angeles (-45,000) and Detroit (-36,700).
Chart C. Over-the-year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest metropolitan areas, July 2008
Additional information
More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings Online.
Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the CES program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at www.bls.gov/sae/.
For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the New England Information Office at 617-565-2327 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.
Technical Note
This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2002 version of the North American Industry Classification System.
Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for approximately 10 percent of CES published series.
Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months.
Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey and administrative data and thus are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability--that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data are also subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.
Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for state CES data at the supersector level are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at www.bls.gov/sae/.
Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated November 20, 2007. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is published annually in the May issue of Employment and Earnings.
The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. Metropolitan New England City and Town Area (NECTA) includes Taunton city, and Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Mansfield, Norton, and Raynham towns in Bristol County; Beverly, Gloucester, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lynn, Methuen, Newburyport, Peabody, and Salem cities, and Amesbury, Andover, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Groveland, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, North Andover, Rockport, Rowley, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, and West Newbury towns in Essex County; Cambridge, Everett, Lowell, Malden, Marlborough, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, and Woburn cities, and Acton, Arlington, Ashland, Ayer, Bedford, Belmont, Billerica, Boxborough, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Framingham, Groton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Natick, North Reading, Pepperell, Reading, Sherborn, Shirley, Stoneham, Stow, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Wayland, Westford, Weston, Wilmington, and Winchester towns in Middlesex County; Franklin and Quincy cities, and Avon, Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Holbrook, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wellesley, Westwood, Weymouth, and Wrentham towns in Norfolk County; Brockton city, and Abington, Bridgewater, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Scituate, West Bridgewater, and Whitman towns in Plymouth County; Boston, Chelsea, and Revere cities, and Winthrop town in Suffolk County; Berlin, Bolton, Harvard, Hopedale, Mendon, Milford, Southborough, and Upton towns in Worcester County, Mass.; Nashua city, and Amherst, Brookline, Greenfield, Greenville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Pelham, and Wilton towns in Hillsborough County; Atkinson, Brentwood, Chester, Danville, Derry, East Kingston, Epping, Exeter, Fremont, Hampstead, Hampton Falls, Kensington, Kingston, Londonderry, Newfields, Newton, Plaistow, Raymond, Salem, Sandown, Seabrook, South Hampton, and Windham towns in Rockingham County, N.H.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
