January 23, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employment growth and decline by county, June 2006-2007

In June 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 Parish, which includes the city of New Orleans, experienced an over-the-year employment gain of 10.8 percent.

Harrison County, Mississippi, followed closely behind Orleans Parish with an over-the-year gain of 10.3 percent. Employment gains in these areas reflected significant recovery following substantial job losses that occurred in 2005 and 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina.

The counties of Utah, Utah (6.7 percent), Williamson, Tennessee (6.4 percent), and Wake, North Carolina (5.9 percent) had the next highest rates of employment growth.

The largest percentage decline in employment was in Trumbull County, Ohio (-6.3 percent). Macomb, Michigan, had the next largest employment decline (-3.6 percent), followed by the counties of Manatee, Florida, and Genesee, Michigan (-3.1 percent each), and Wayne, Michigan, and Montgomery, Ohio (-2.9 percent each).

Of the 328 largest counties in the United States, as measured by 2006 annual average employment, 126 had over-the-year percentage growth in employment above the national average (1.2 percent) in June 2007; 184 large counties experienced changes below the national average.

The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program produced these data, which are preliminary and subject to revision. Find out more in "County Employment and Wages: Second Quarter 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release 08-0064. 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.