April 13, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Counties with most rapid employment growth and decline, September 2004-September 2005

In September 2005, Lee County, Florida, which includes Fort Myers, had the biggest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S.

[Chart data—TXT]

Employment grew by 11.4 percent from September 2004 to September 2005 in Lee County. Seminole, Florida, near Daytona Beach, and Collier, Florida (which includes the city of Naples), had the next largest increases. The nation as a whole experienced a job growth rate of 2.0 percent.

The largest percentage declines in employment were in the greater New Orleans area: Orleans Parish, Louisiana, -26.3 percent, and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, -25.6 percent. The county of Harrison, Mississippi (which includes the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport), experienced the next steepest decline in employment, -13.9 percent. These employment losses reflect the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

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—there are 322 such counties. Find out more in "County Employment and Wages: Third Quarter 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release 06-638.