July 26, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Fastest growth and decline in employment by county, December 2005-2006

In December 2006, Harrison County, Mississippi (which includes the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport), had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S.

[Chart data—TXT]

Orleans, Louisiana (part of the New Orleans metropolitan area), had the next largest increase, followed by Jefferson, Louisiana (a New Orleans suburb), Williamson, Texas (in the Austin area), and Utah, Utah (which includes Provo). The large employment gains in Harrison County and in the parishes of Orleans and Jefferson reflected significant recovery from depressed employment levels in December 2005, which were related to Hurricane Katrina.

The largest percentage decline in employment was in Trumbull County, Ohio (in the Youngstown area). Elkhart, Indiana (which borders Michigan), had the next largest employment decline, followed by the counties of Wayne and Oakland, Michigan (both in the metropolitan Detroit area), and Genesee, Michigan (in the greater Flint area). In each of these five counties, the greatest number of jobs lost occurred in the manufacturing industry.

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produced these data, which are preliminary and subject to revision. Employment 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: Fourth Quarter 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release 07-1119.