FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE: Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist October 28, 2008 (214) 767-6970 HOUSTON-SUGAR LAND-BAYTOWN JOB GROWTH HIGHEST AMONG THE 12 LARGEST AREAS NATIONWIDE Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,626,700 in September 2008, an increase of 55,700 jobs over the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. From September 2007 to September 2008, nonfarm employment rose 2.2 percent in the local area compared to a 0.4-percent decline nationwide. Among the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the country, Houston had the highest rate of job growth, followed by another Texas area, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, at 1.8 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that while the rate of gain in Houston has slowed notably during the last year, September's advance continued the trend of over-the-year employment increases that began in March 2004. (See chart A and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.) Chart A. Total nonfarm employment, over-the-year percent change in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area, January 2001-September 2008 Industry employment In the Houston area, 10 of the 11 industry supersectors added at least 1,000 jobs from September 2007 to September 2008. Trade, transportation, and utilities, and education and health services experienced the largest over-the-year employment gains, up 9,200 and 9,100 jobs, respectively. The local rate of job gain in trade, transportation, and utilities, 1.8 percent, was in sharp contrast to the national decrease of 1.4 percent. In comparison, educational and health services' 3.2-percent increase was similar to the nationwide advance of 3.1 percent. The educational and health services industry accounted for 11 percent of the local workforce, but made up 16 percent of Houstons job growth from September a year ago. Chart B. Over-the-year percent change in employment by industry supersector, United States and the Houston metropolitan area, September 2008 Four other local supersectors recorded gains of more than 5,000 jobs from September 2007. Employment in Houston's professional and business services rose by 7,400, or 1.9 percent; this compared to a 1.1-percent decline in the industry nationally. Public sector employment in the Houston area grew by 6,800, an increase of 1.9 percent; nationwide, government grew at a slower pace, advancing 1.4 percent. The natural resources and mining supersector continued to register strong growth locally with the addition of 6,700 jobs. During the 12-month period, employment in this supersector increased 7.9 percent in Houston; still, this was slower than the 9.8-percent rate of growth recorded nationwide. Local employment in natural resources and mining accounted for 3.5 percent of the workforce in September 2008, but the supersector was responsible for 12.0 percent of Houston's over-the- year job growth. Construction employment advanced 5,700 in Houston, a 2.9 percent increase; nationally, this industry declined 5.9 percent. Smaller local gains were registered in manufacturing, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and other services, while employment in the local information supersector was little changed during the last 12 months. Employment in the 12 largest areas The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area was one of the nation's 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in September 2008. Five of these 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth, another 5 lost jobs, and 2 areas registered no growth. Nationally, employment declined 0.4 percent. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown registered the fastest rate of gain, up 2.2 percent, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 1.8 percent. The other three areas experiencing employment growth during the 12-month period were: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (1.4 percent), Boston-Cambridge-Quincy (0.8 percent), and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (0.2 percent). (See chart C.) Those areas with over-the-year job losses were: San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (-0.8 percent), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (-0.9 percent), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (-1.3 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta (-1.4 percent), and Detroit-Warren- Livonia (-2.9 percent). Chicago-Naperville-Joliet and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington registered no job growth. Houston, the area with the fastest rate of job growth in the nation in September 2008, also added the largest number of jobs over the year, 55,700, followed closely by Dallas with 54,300. Washington was third, adding 40,700 to its count. The largest declines in employment occurred in Detroit (-57,800) and Los Angeles (-53,200). Two other areas, Atlanta and Miami, lost more than 30,000 jobs. Chart C. Over-the-year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest metropolitan areas, September 2008 Additional information For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Southwest Information Office at 214- 767-6970 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339. Technical Note This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Definition. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System. Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for the approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates. Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports that are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months. Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample survey, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability - that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding. Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error are available for state CES data at the total nonfarm and supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/. Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on November 20, 2007. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy2008/b08-01.pdf. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Waller Counties in Texas. ________________________________________________________________________________________________(p) preliminary
Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, U.S. and Houston metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands) Area and Industry Sept
2007July
2008Aug
2008Sept
2008(p)Change from Sept
2007 to Sept 2008Number Percent U.S.
Total nonfarm
138,075 137,259 137,231 137,476 -599 -0.4 Natural resources and mining
736 790 806 808 72 9.8 Construction
7,811 7,462 7,465 7,350 -461 -5.9 Manufacturing
13,890 13,526 13,521 13,443 -447 -3.2 Trade, transportation, and utilities
26,584 26,378 26,335 26,221 -363 -1.4 Information
3,016 2,997 2,988 2,966 -50 -1.7 Financial activities
8,282 8,279 8,258 8,172 -110 -1.3 Professional and business services
18,133 18,022 18,016 17,933 -200 -1.1 Educational and health services
18,372 18,593 18,653 18,947 575 3.1 Leisure and hospitality
13,712 14,324 14,253 13,753 41 0.3 Other services
5,477 5,597 5,561 5,510 33 0.6 Government
22,062 21,291 21,375 22,373 311 1.4 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Total nonfarm
2,571.0 2,607.4 2,617.1 2,626.7 55.7 2.2 Natural resources and mining
85.1 91.3 91.9 91.8 6.7 7.9 Construction
197.5 202.9 203.1 203.2 5.7 2.9 Manufacturing
234.7 237.2 237.5 237.9 3.2 1.4 Trade, transportation, and utilities
523.4 530.9 533.7 532.6 9.2 1.8 Information
36.7 37.0 36.9 36.5 -0.2 -0.5 Financial activities
145.7 148.4 148.7 148.7 3.0 2.1 Professional and business services
387.0 394.1 395.4 394.4 7.4 1.9 Educational and health services
285.9 290.5 292.6 295.0 9.1 3.2 Leisure and hospitality
230.6 237.2 237.4 233.6 3.0 1.3 Other services
94.3 96.9 96.5 96.1 1.8 1.9 Government
350.1 341.0 343.4 356.9 6.8 1.9 (p) preliminary
Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, 12 largest metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands) Area and Industry Sept
2007July
2008Aug
2008Sept
2008(p)Change from Sept
2007 to Sept 2008Number Percent Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
Total nonfarm
2,466.9 2,439.9 2,450.5 2,433.3 -33.6 -1.4 Natural resources and mining
2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 -0.1 -4.0 Construction
139.2 135.9 132.0 128.1 -11.1 -8.0 Manufacturing
174.9 169.4 168.0 166.7 -8.2 -4.7 Trade, transportation, and utilities
562.8 561.0 560.2 557.8 -5.0 -0.9 Information
87.8 88.5 88.3 88.1 0.3 0.3 Financial activities
162.1 159.7 159.9 158.3 -3.8 -2.3 Professional and business services
412.8 408.5 410.9 404.1 -8.7 -2.1 Educational and health services
256.2 257.1 261.2 263.6 7.4 2.9 Leisure and hospitality
236.2 241.3 240.4 236.3 0.1 0.0 Other services
97.9 99.6 98.4 98.7 0.8 0.8 Government
334.5 316.5 328.8 329.2 -5.3 -1.6 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
Total nonfarm
2,494.2 2,499.6 2,491.8 2,513.5 19.3 0.8 Natural resources and mining
1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1 0.0 0.0 Construction
104.5 103.3 103.4 101.4 -3.1 -3.0 Manufacturing
221.6 219.9 220.1 219.1 -2.5 -1.1 Trade, transportation, and utilities
417.1 417.3 416.8 416.3 -0.8 -0.2 Information
74.6 75.2 74.8 74.3 -0.3 -0.4 Financial activities
188.6 190.2 190.0 186.7 -1.9 -1.0 Professional and business services
411.8 422.5 424.6 421.8 10.0 2.4 Educational and health services
463.5 466.0 463.2 475.6 12.1 2.6 Leisure and hospitality
222.7 233.7 233.9 226.5 3.8 1.7 Other services
88.3 90.4 90.2 87.6 -0.7 -0.8 Government
300.4 279.9 273.6 303.1 2.7 0.9 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm
4,587.8 4,593.4 4,585.0 4,587.3 -0.5 0.0 Natural resources and mining
2.4 2.5 2.5 2.5 0.1 4.2 Construction
224.7 218.4 218.4 215.9 -8.8 -3.9 Manufacturing
482.8 477.8 477.2 476.1 -6.7 -1.4 Trade, transportation, and utilities
927.8 935.5 933.5 931.8 4.0 0.4 Information
91.2 91.2 90.9 90.2 -1.0 -1.1 Financial activities
327.5 326.9 326.6 324.1 -3.4 -1.0 Professional and business services
753.7 757.3 759.5 759.8 6.1 0.8 Educational and health services
592.7 593.2 593.3 600.4 7.7 1.3 Leisure and hospitality
416.5 425.4 426.0 418.0 1.5 0.4 Other services
198.5 204.2 203.7 199.6 1.1 0.6 Government
569.5 561.0 553.4 568.9 -0.6 -0.1 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm
2,964.1 3,001.0 3,013.3 3,018.4 54.3 1.8 Natural resources, mining, and construction
192.4 199.3 201.0 201.1 8.7 4.5 Manufacturing
297.5 293.1 293.4 292.2 -5.3 -1.8 Trade, transportation, and utilities
623.8 632.4 635.5 634.5 10.7 1.7 Information
89.5 88.7 88.9 88.3 -1.2 -1.3 Financial activities
233.9 238.0 238.2 237.4 3.5 1.5 Professional and business services
448.4 447.6 447.9 448.4 0.0 0.0 Educational and health services
320.9 329.9 333.2 335.8 14.9 4.6 Leisure and hospitality
279.9 294.5 294.8 291.4 11.5 4.1 Other services
107.9 111.3 111.3 110.2 2.3 2.1 Government
369.9 366.2 369.1 379.1 9.2 2.5 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
Total nonfarm
1,966.0 1,892.9 1,896.3 1,908.2 -57.8 -2.9 Natural resources, mining, and construction
75.8 67.7 67.1 65.2 -10.6 -14.0 Manufacturing
256.6 227.1 229.3 230.2 -26.4 -10.3 Trade, transportation, and utilities
363.3 358.1 357.6 356.5 -6.8 -1.9 Information
33.7 32.7 32.7 32.4 -1.3 -3.9 Financial activities
110.1 109.3 108.9 106.4 -3.7 -3.4 Professional and business services
351.3 340.9 343.7 342.7 -8.6 -2.4 Educational and health services
278.8 281.3 281.2 283.5 4.7 1.7 Leisure and hospitality
185.8 186.8 187.1 183.7 -2.1 -1.1 Other services
88.0 86.7 86.3 86.4 -1.6 -1.8 Government
222.6 202.3 202.4 221.2 -1.4 -0.6 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Total nonfarm
2,571.0 2,607.4 2,617.1 2,626.7 55.7 2.2 Natural resources and mining
85.1 91.3 91.9 91.8 6.7 7.9 Construction
197.5 202.9 203.1 203.2 5.7 2.9 Manufacturing
234.7 237.2 237.5 237.9 3.2 1.4 Trade, transportation, and utilities
523.4 530.9 533.7 532.6 9.2 1.8 Information
36.7 37.0 36.9 36.5 -0.2 -0.5 Financial activities
145.7 148.4 148.7 148.7 3.0 2.1 Professional and business services
387.0 394.1 395.4 394.4 7.4 1.9 Educational and health services
285.9 290.5 292.6 295.0 9.1 3.2 Leisure and hospitality
230.6 237.2 237.4 233.6 3.0 1.3 Other services
94.3 96.9 96.5 96.1 1.8 1.9 Government
350.1 341.0 343.4 356.9 6.8 1.9 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
Total nonfarm
5,628.3 5,554.2 5,543.8 5,575.1 -53.2 -0.9 Natural resources and mining
5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 Construction
264.7 249.1 250.0 249.2 -15.5 -5.9 Manufacturing
622.7 615.0 614.0 612.7 -10.0 -1.6 Trade, transportation, and utilities
1,097.7 1,084.1 1,080.9 1,081.5 -16.2 -1.5 Information
248.2 229.5 238.6 242.3 -5.9 -2.4 Financial activities
367.0 353.4 351.7 349.3 -17.7 -4.8 Professional and business services
879.8 870.9 870.7 868.6 -11.2 -1.3 Educational and health services
631.9 627.2 627.3 644.2 12.3 1.9 Leisure and hospitality
574.3 582.8 580.9 575.9 1.6 0.3 Other services
195.9 197.1 196.0 197.0 1.1 0.6 Government
741.1 740.1 728.7 749.4 8.3 1.1 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Total nonfarm
2,420.8 2,363.3 2,390.3 2,388.4 -32.4 -1.3 Natural resources and mining
0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.0 0.0 Construction
156.0 139.9 137.7 137.3 -18.7 -12.0 Manufacturing
95.9 91.4 91.4 91.4 -4.5 -4.7 Trade, transportation, and utilities
541.0 538.7 536.4 533.3 -7.7 -1.4 Information
51.6 51.1 50.8 50.8 -0.8 -1.6 Financial activities
178.5 174.2 172.9 171.6 -6.9 -3.9 Professional and business services
397.9 390.2 389.5 387.1 -10.8 -2.7 Educational and health services
320.2 324.3 327.2 330.8 10.6 3.3 Leisure and hospitality
249.1 250.3 251.5 251.0 1.9 0.8 Other services
100.8 101.5 101.1 101.3 0.5 0.5 Government
329.1 301.0 331.1 333.1 4.0 1.2 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm
8,581.5 8,637.7 8,587.5 8,601.7 20.2 0.2 Natural resources, mining, and construction
375.9 375.3 378.8 377.8 1.9 0.5 Manufacturing
450.9 430.2 429.7 432.5 -18.4 -4.1 Trade, transportation, and utilities
1,612.9 1,605.8 1,601.5 1,612.9 0.0 0.0 Information
290.0 295.9 295.6 294.2 4.2 1.4 Financial activities
796.8 795.8 791.6 782.2 -14.6 -1.8 Professional and business services
1,311.4 1,321.5 1,323.5 1,316.3 4.9 0.4 Educational and health services
1,435.1 1,438.3 1,430.1 1,455.8 20.7 1.4 Leisure and hospitality
664.8 700.2 695.3 678.4 13.6 2.0 Other services
371.3 378.0 376.4 375.6 4.3 1.2 Government
1,272.4 1,296.7 1,265.0 1,276.0 3.6 0.3 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmingon, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm
2,810.8 2,808.7 2,796.7 2,809.5 -1.3 0.0 Natural resources, mining, and construction
132.6 129.8 130.4 128.7 -3.9 -2.9 Manufacturing
219.3 215.8 215.0 213.9 -5.4 -2.5 Trade, transportation, and utilities
529.3 529.1 526.9 527.0 -2.3 -0.4 Information
58.6 57.5 57.5 57.6 -1.0 -1.7 Financial activities
218.9 217.7 217.0 213.7 -5.2 -2.4 Professional and business services
430.7 436.3 436.1 435.4 4.7 1.1 Educational and health services
525.0 526.6 523.9 534.0 9.0 1.7 Leisure and hospitality
225.0 234.7 233.7 226.2 1.2 0.5 Other services
124.2 125.8 124.9 124.0 -0.2 -0.2 Government
347.2 335.4 331.3 349.0 1.8 0.5 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Total nonfarm
2,042.5 2,025.3 2,021.8 2,026.0 -16.5 -0.8 Natural resources and mining
1.5 1.6 1.6 1.6 0.1 6.7 Construction
121.4 116.2 116.9 116.1 -5.3 -4.4 Manufacturing
137.9 136.5 136.6 136.3 -1.6 -1.2 Trade, transportation, and utilities
359.3 353.6 353.4 353.2 -6.1 -1.7 Information
68.6 67.8 67.9 67.6 -1.0 -1.5 Financial activities
151.2 146.9 146.9 146.5 -4.7 -3.1 Professional and business services
359.4 362.7 362.4 362.0 2.6 0.7 Educational and health services
229.8 229.9 229.6 231.6 1.8 0.8 Leisure and hospitality
216.5 217.9 217.7 215.9 -0.6 -0.3 Other services
75.5 75.4 74.9 74.8 -0.7 -0.9 Government
321.4 316.8 313.9 320.4 -1.0 -0.3 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm
2,992.3 3,031.4 3,025.7 3,033.0 40.7 1.4 Natural resources, mining, and construction
186.8 183.3 183.4 181.5 -5.3 -2.8 Manufacturing
62.5 61.6 61.9 61.8 -0.7 -1.1 Trade, transportation, and utilities
401.7 405.9 404.3 401.9 0.2 0.0 Information
93.1 92.6 91.9 91.0 -2.1 -2.3 Financial activities
157.8 156.9 156.7 155.0 -2.8 -1.8 Professional and business services
678.3 694.9 695.4 691.7 13.4 2.0 Educational and health services
328.2 329.4 328.8 340.1 11.9 3.6 Leisure and hospitality
257.8 266.8 266.0 259.6 1.8 0.7 Other services
180.0 189.2 187.9 188.1 8.1 4.5 Government
646.1 650.8 649.4 662.3 16.2 2.5
Last Modified Date: October 28, 2008
Quick Links
Tools
Calculators
Help
Info