Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte	Wednesday, November 5, 2008
(312) 353-1138

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September 2008 Job Count for the Detroit Area Fell by 57,800 Over the Year

Total nonfarm employment for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 1,908,200 in September 2008, 57,800 below its year-ago level.  This drop represented a decline of 2.9 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Nationally, nonfarm employment was down 0.4 percent during the same 12-month period.  (See chart A and table 1.)  Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that the decline in September was a continuation of a long-term trend of over-the-year job losses that extended back to October 2005.  (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 United States and the Detroit metropolitan area, September 2002-2008

 

The Detroit metropolitan area is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area—both of which lost jobs over the year.  The rate of job loss varied by division with employment in the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn Metropolitan Division declining 4.3 percent and employment in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division falling 2.0 percent.  (See table 1.)  The Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn Metropolitan Division, which employs 39 percent of the area’s workforce, accounted for 58 percent of the area’s job loss.  The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, employing 61 percent of the area’s workforce, accounted for 42 percent of the jobs lost in the area. 

Industry Employment

The largest employment loss in the Detroit area was in the manufacturing supersector, which dropped 26,400 jobs from September 2007 to September 2008, a decline of 10.3 percent.  The loss of manufacturing jobs locally was more pronounced in the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn Metropolitan Division, down 20,300 or 21.6 percent from September 2007.  Nationally, employment in manufacturing also decreased, though the 3.2-percent over-the-year decline was not nearly as steep.  (See chart B and table 1.)  Since September 2000, employment in the metropolitan area’s manufacturing supersector has fallen by 159,500 or 40.9 percent. 

 

Chart B.  Over-the-year percent change in employment by selected industry supersector, United States and the Detroit metropolitan area, September 2008

 

Natural resources, mining, and construction, the supersector with the second largest loss in jobs, 10,600, experienced the steepest rate of decline, 14.0 percent, from September a year ago.  The majority of this decline was in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division where employment fell by 8,000 or 15.4 percent.

Professional and business services in the Detroit area shed 8,600 jobs from September 2007, a drop of 2.4 percent.  However, unlike the previously mentioned supersectors, job losses in this industry were almost equally split between the two metropolitan divisions.  Nationally, professional and business services also lost jobs, declining 1.1 percent from September a year ago.

 
Six other Detroit-area supersectors reported net job losses ranging from 6,800 in trade, transportation, and utilities to 1,300 in information.

Education and health services was the only Detroit area supersector to add jobs over the year, increasing by 4,700 or 1.7 percent.  In spite of the area’s overall employment decline in recent years, the education and health services industry has consistently expanded.  Since losing 1,400 jobs in June 2003, Detroit’s education and health services supersector has experienced 63 consecutive months of growth. 

Employment in the 12 Largest Areas 

Detroit-Warren-Livonia 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, 12 largest areas and the United States, September 2008

 

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. Metropolitan Statistical Area, 1 of the 12 largest metropolitan areas. The rankings were based on population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007. The CES program is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor.

Definitions. 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.

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

The Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Wayne County in Michigan.

The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties in Michigan.

Additional information

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available by subscription from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone 202-512-1800).

Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the CES program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at (www.bls.gov/sae/).

For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.

 

(p) preliminary

Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, Detroit metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Sept 2007	July 2008	Aug 2008	Sept 2008 (p)	Change from Sept 2007 to Sept 2008 (p)
					Number	Percent
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area
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
Education 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
Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	784.2	745.1	741.2	750.4	-33.8	-4.3
Natural resources, mining, and construction	23.8	21.5	21.3	21.2	-2.6	-10.9
Manufacturing	94.0	75.8	73.1	73.7	-20.3	-21.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	148.5	144.6	144.7	144.7	-3.8	-2.6
Information	13.8	13.0	13.0	12.9	-0.9	-6.5
Financial activities	35.8	35.8	35.8	35.0	-0.8	-2.2
Professional and business services	117.7	113.9	114.0	113.6	-4.1	-3.5
Education and health services	124.1	123.2	122.8	125.5	1.4	1.1
Leisure and hospitality	80.9	79.8	79.3	79.1	-1.8	-2.2
Other services	35.2	34.5	34.9	34.8	-0.4	-1.1
Government	110.4	103.0	102.3	109.9	-0.5	-0.5
Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	1,181.8	1,147.8	1,155.1	1,157.8	-24.0	-2.0
Natural resources, mining, and construction	52.0	46.2	45.8	44.0	-8.0	-15.4
Manufacturing	162.6	151.3	156.2	156.5	-6.1	-3.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	214.8	213.5	212.9	211.8	-3.0	-1.4
Information	19.9	19.7	19.7	19.5	-0.4	-2.0
Financial activities	74.3	73.5	73.1	71.4	-2.9	-3.9
Professional and business services	233.6	227.0	229.7	229.1	-4.5	-1.9
Education and health services	154.7	158.1	158.4	158.0	3.3	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	104.9	107.0	107.8	104.6	-0.3	-0.3
Other services	52.8	52.2	51.4	51.6	-1.2	-2.3
Government	112.2	99.3	100.1	111.3	-0.9	-0.8
(p) preliminary