October 23, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment growth and decline by county, March 2006-2007

In March 2007, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S.

[Chart data—TXT]

Orleans, which includes the city of New Orleans, experienced an over-the-year employment gain of 15.0 percent compared with national job growth of 1.4 percent. Harrison County, Mississippi, which includes the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport, followed closely behind Orleans with an over-the-year gain of 14.5 percent. Employment gains in Orleans and Harrison reflected significant recovery following substantial job losses that occurred in September 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina.

The largest percentage decline in employment (-6.2 percent) was in Trumbull County, Ohio, which is in the Youngstown area. Macomb, Michigan, in the Detroit area, had the next largest employment decline, followed by the counties of Wayne, Michigan (which includes the city of Detroit), Montgomery, Ohio (which includes the city of Dayton), and Elkhart, Indiana (which borders Michigan). In each of these five counties, the greatest number of jobs lost occurred in the manufacturing sector.

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produced these data, which are preliminary and subject to revision. Data presented here are for all workers covered by State and Federal unemployment insurance programs. The largest counties are those with employment levels of 75,000 or more. Find out more in "County Employment and Wages: First Quarter 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release 07-1583. 

 

Related TED article:

• Counties with highest wage growth, first quarter 2007