Midwest Information office

Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Wednesday, July 2, 2008
(312) 353-1138

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May 2008 Job Count for the Chicago Area Increased Slightly Over the Year

Total nonfarm employment for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 4,585,100 in May 2008, 4,900 above its year-ago level, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Mirroring the nation, the Chicago area job count edged up 0.1 percent over the past 12 months. Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that although over-the-year employment increases have slowed in recent months, the upward trend has continued uninterrupted since September 2004. (See chart A and tables 1 and 2. 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 Chicago metropolitan area, May 2002-2008

The Chicago metropolitan area is made up of three metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area—all of which added jobs over the year. (See table 2.) Forty-five percent of Chicago area job gains from May 2007 occurred in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Division (2,200), which accounted for 85 percent of the workforce. The remaining two divisions, Lake County-Kenosha County and Gary, added 1,300 jobs each and together added more than half of the job growth in the Chicago area, but collectively, these divisions represented only 15 percent of the overall employment.

Industry Employment

In the Chicago metropolitan area, the education and health services supersector experienced the largest employment increase, adding 9,900 jobs over the year. Almost all of the increase occurred in the Chicago division. Locally, education and health services jobs rose 1.7 percent from May a year ago; still, growth in this supersector was at a much slower pace than the 3.1-percent increase nationally.

Three other industries in the Chicago area had increases of at least 3,000 over the year: trade, transportation and utilities (8,600); government (4,500); and professional and business services (3,100). Trade, transportation, and utilities employment grew 0.9 percent over the year, in contrast to the 0.6-percent decline nationally. Government payrolls expanded by 0.8 percent in the Chicago area and employment in the professional and business services industry increased 0.4 percent from May a year ago. Job growth in both of these industries was close to their respective percentage increases at the national level.

The construction supersector experienced the largest employment decline, dropping 7,400 jobs over the year, partially offsetting the area’s job gains. Almost all of the job loss in construction occurred in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet division. Though construction lost more jobs than any other supersector in the Chicago area, its rate of decline, at 3.4 percent, was slower paced than the 5.5-percent drop experienced nationally. The construction industry in the Chicago area has recorded over-the-year declines in 16 of the past 17 months, with the last increase of more than 1,000 jobs occurring in December 2006.

After construction, the largest employment reductions in the Chicago area were in financial activities, down 5,800 or 1.8 percent, and manufacturing, which lost 5,000 jobs, falling 1.0 percent. Virtually all of the decrease in these two supersectors occurred in the Chicago metropolitan division. By comparison, employment declined nationally by 1.1 percent in financial activities and 2.5 percent in manufacturing.

Employment in the 12 Largest Areas

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet was one of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in May 2008. Eight of these 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth greater than the national increase of 0.1 percent. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown registered the fastest rate of gain, up 2.3 percent from May 2007, closely followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 2.2 percent. The other six areas with above average growth were: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (both at 0.9 percent), Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (0.8 percent), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (0.5 percent), and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (both at 0.3 percent). Another area, Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, had growth equal to the national average at 0.1 percent. (See chart B and table 3.)

Employment declined in the remaining three areas: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (-0.5 percent), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (-0.7 percent), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-2.4 percent).

Dallas, the area with the second fastest growth rate in May 2008, added the largest number of jobs over the year, 66,100. Houston ranked second with the addition of 58,300 jobs. The largest declines in employment occurred in Detroit (-47,400) and Los Angeles (-27,800).

Chart B. Over-the year percent change in employment, 12 largest areas and the United States, May 2008

 

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area, 1 of the 12 largest metropolitan areas. The rankings were based on population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007. The CES program is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor.

Employment

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period that 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 2007 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 the approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports that 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, administrative data, and modeling 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 also are 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 specific 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 are available for state CES data at the total nonfarm and supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the BLS Web site 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 on November 20, 2007. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy2008/b08-01.pdf.

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois.

The Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Lake County in Illinois and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

The Gary, Ind. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana.

Additional information

For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

 

 

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