November 02, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Counties with largest employment gains in 2000

Of the nation's biggest counties, New York, New York, comprised entirely of the borough of Manhattan, recorded the largest absolute gain in employment—76,402 jobs—in 2000.

[Chart data—TXT]

The second largest gain in employment by county occurred in the county of Los Angeles, California (72,637), followed by the counties of Santa Clara, California (64,031), Dallas, Texas (61,889), and Maricopa, Arizona (54,388). These five counties accounted for 11.4 percent of total U.S. covered employment growth.

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produced these data. Pay data presented here are for all workers covered by State and Federal unemployment insurance programs. Find more information on employment in large counties in 2000 in "Employment and Average Annual Pay for Large Counties, 2000," news release USDL 01-352. The largest counties are defined as those with covered employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2000.