FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE: Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist April 23, 2009 (972) 850-4800 http://www.bls.gov/ro6/ HOUSTON-SUGAR LAND-BAYTOWN EMPLOYMENT: MARCH 2009 Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,577,600 in March 2009, down 14,400 jobs from one year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. From March 2008 to March 2009, local nonfarm employment fell 0.6 percent compared to the national decline of 3.6 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted this was the second consecutive month of over-the-year job losses following nearly five years of expansion in the Houston area. (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-March 2009Industry employment More than half of the 11 industry supersectors in the Houston metropolitan area experienced annual employment declines. Professional and business services experienced the largest decrease with the loss of 13,500 jobs from a year ago. This was the industry’s second consecutive month of over-the-year losses following virtually uninterrupted growth since March 2004. Still, the 3.5-percent decline from March a year ago was slower-paced than the national decrease of 5.9 percent. (See table 1 and chart B.) From March 2008 to March 2009, construction lost 6,800 jobs, declining at a 3.3-percent pace. Nationally, the rate of decline in this industry was much sharper at 13.3 percent. Houston's trade, transportation, and utilities supersector lost nearly as many jobs as the construction industry, down 6,300, but the percentage decline was smaller at 1.2 percent. Nationwide, employment in trade, transportation, and public utilities fell 4.3 percent. Elsewhere, financial activities lost 2,000 jobs in Houston from March 2008, a decline of 1.4 percent. This supersector has registered over-the-year losses since July 2008. Nationwide, financial activities fell at a 4.3-percent pace from March a year ago. Employment in Houston's information supersector was down 1,200, or 3.3 percent, from March 2008, close to the national 3.7-percent decline in this industry. The local manufacturing sector registered a loss of 1,000 jobs, down 0.4 percent, compared to the much steeper 9.9-percent decline nationwide. Chart B. Over-the-year percent change in employment by industry supersector, United States and the Houston metropolitan area, March 2009
Three supersectors in the Houston metropolitan area experienced job growth from March 2008 to March 2009. Educational and health services had the largest gain, adding 9,500 jobs over the year, growing at a 3.4-percent pace. Nationally, the educational and health services industry expanded 2.3 percent. Mining and logging added 4,100 jobs to the local economy, a 4.7-percent increase from March a year ago. Although the local rate of job growth has slowed substantially from the last half of 2008 when it was above 8.0 percent, this latest gain continued the string of over-the-year increases that began in January 2003. Nationally, mining and logging employment was down 0.7 percent from March 2008, ending a series of over-the-year gains that began in February 2004. Government employment rose by 3,900 in the Houston area from March 2008 to March 2009, a 1.1-percent gain. Local growth in the public sector has slowed in recent months, but with only a few exceptions this sector has recorded annual job gains since reporting of over-the-year changes began in January 1991. Nationwide, government employment edged up 0.4 percent since March 2008. Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in March 2009. All of these areas experienced over-the-year job losses. (See chart C and table 2.) Nationally, employment fell 3.6 percent from March 2008 to March 2009. Of these 12 metropolitan areas, 5 — Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-7.1 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (-4.7 percent each), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (-3.9 percent each) — recorded employment declines at a faster-than-average pace. Conversely, seven metropolitan areas lost jobs at a slower pace than that for the nation. Five of these areas experienced declines in the 3.5 to 1.0-percent range — Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Philadelphia-Camden- Wilmington, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria posted the smallest losses (-0.6 percent each). Two metropolitan areas experienced employment declines of over 200,000 from March a year ago: Los Angeles (-221,300) and New York (-219,700). Four other areas lost more than 100,000 jobs led by Chicago (-157,600). Two areas, Houston and Washington, lost fewer than 20,000 jobs over the year. In 7 of the 12 areas, professional and business services recorded the largest loss of jobs from March 2008. Education and health services added the most jobs in 11 of the 12 areas. Chart C. Over-the-year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest metropolitan areas, March 2009
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 972-850-4800 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 surveys, 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 list of 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 Mar
2008Jan
2009Feb
2009Mar
2009(p)Change from
Mar 2008 to Mar 2009Number Percent U.S.
Total nonfarm
136,944 132,302 132,130 132,072 -4,872 -3.6 Mining and logging
741 766 754 736 -5 -0.7 Construction
7,047 6,295 6,152 6,113 -934 -13.3 Manufacturing
13,559 12,519 12,344 12,210 -1,349 -9.9 Trade, transportation, and utilities
26,330 25,534 25,212 25,199 -1,131 -4.3 Information
3,016 2,895 2,903 2,904 -112 -3.7 Financial activities
8,171 7,901 7,863 7,823 -348 -4.3 Professional and business services
17,733 16,877 16,741 16,678 -1,055 -5.9 Educational and health services
18,833 19,013 19,239 19,269 436 2.3 Leisure and hospitality
13,156 12,667 12,678 12,813 -343 -2.6 Other services
5,518 5,388 5,400 5,402 -116 -2.1 Government
22,840 22,447 22,844 22,925 85 0.4 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Total nonfarm
2,592.0 2,576.8 2,571.4 2,577.6 -14.4 -0.6 Mining and logging
87.2 93.0 92.3 91.3 4.1 4.7 Construction
204.8 199.5 200.2 198.0 -6.8 -3.3 Manufacturing
238.3 241.2 238.8 237.3 -1.0 -0.4 Trade, transportation, and utilities
528.1 523.0 517.5 521.8 -6.3 -1.2 Information
36.7 35.5 35.6 35.5 -1.2 -3.3 Financial activities
144.2 141.3 141.7 142.2 -2.0 -1.4 Professional and business services
381.4 378.3 368.7 367.9 -13.5 -3.5 Educational and health services
281.0 288.2 289.8 290.5 9.5 3.4 Leisure and hospitality
232.2 222.4 226.4 231.5 -0.7 -0.3 Other services
90.9 89.7 90.3 90.5 -0.4 -0.4 Government
367.2 364.7 370.1 371.1 3.9 1.1 (p) preliminary
Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, 12 largest metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands) Area and Industry Mar
2008Jan
2009Feb
2009Mar
2009(p)Change from
Mar 2008 to Mar 2009Number Percent Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
Total nonfarm
2,445.6 2,341.5 2,330.6 2,329.7 -115.9 -4.7 Mining and logging
1.8 1.5 1.5 1.4 -0.4 -22.2 Construction
132.2 113.2 111.6 109.2 -23.0 -17.4 Manufacturing
171.7 157.2 155.1 152.8 -18.9 -11.0 Trade, transportation, and utilities
558.1 534.2 526.9 529.1 -29.0 -5.2 Information
84.0 81.6 81.8 80.7 -3.3 -3.9 Financial activities
157.3 150.0 148.8 148.1 -9.2 -5.8 Professional and business services
407.9 382.3 379.8 379.7 -28.2 -6.9 Educational and health services
259.2 262.8 263.0 262.0 2.8 1.1 Leisure and hospitality
233.4 224.8 223.7 227.5 -5.9 -2.5 Other services
98.2 95.5 96.8 96.1 -2.1 -2.1 Government
341.8 338.4 341.6 343.1 1.3 0.4 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
Total nonfarm
2,476.0 2,412.9 2,409.5 2,413.1 -62.9 -2.5 Mining and logging
0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 -0.1 -14.3 Construction
90.5 79.6 76.8 77.3 -13.2 -14.6 Manufacturing
217.2 210.5 208.7 208.6 -8.6 -4.0 Trade, transportation, and utilities
412.0 406.4 397.6 396.9 -15.1 -3.7 Information
75.4 73.7 73.1 72.8 -2.6 -3.4 Financial activities
185.8 176.5 175.8 175.9 -9.9 -5.3 Professional and business services
409.8 391.0 387.8 387.0 -22.8 -5.6 Educational and health services
478.9 477.2 488.2 490.9 12.0 2.5 Leisure and hospitality
209.0 202.2 203.2 205.1 -3.9 -1.9 Other services
88.5 86.9 86.0 86.2 -2.3 -2.6 Government
308.2 308.3 311.7 311.8 3.6 1.2 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm
4,489.0 4,354.3 4,331.4 4,331.4 -157.6 -3.5 Mining and logging
1.9 2.0 1.8 1.8 -0.1 -5.3 Construction
190.0 169.2 166.1 170.7 -19.3 -10.2 Manufacturing
474.7 453.0 444.4 438.6 -36.1 -7.6 Trade, transportation, and utilities
920.5 895.9 887.5 888.1 -32.4 -3.5 Information
90.6 88.2 87.5 87.2 -3.4 -3.8 Financial activities
318.6 306.5 305.8 303.0 -15.6 -4.9 Professional and business services
724.4 695.1 686.9 683.5 -40.9 -5.6 Educational and health services
603.2 608.7 611.1 611.8 8.6 1.4 Leisure and hospitality
394.0 378.2 376.1 381.3 -12.7 -3.2 Other services
198.4 195.8 195.7 196.7 -1.7 -0.9 Government
572.7 561.7 568.5 568.7 -4.0 -0.7 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm
2,975.9 2,936.7 2,934.2 2,937.1 -38.8 -1.3 Mining, logging, and construction
195.2 185.4 185.7 183.7 -11.5 -5.9 Manufacturing
289.7 280.4 280.1 278.5 -11.2 -3.9 Trade, transportation, and utilities
626.4 618.3 613.0 617.1 -9.3 -1.5 Information
89.2 87.5 87.3 86.9 -2.3 -2.6 Financial activities
233.0 231.0 231.8 229.7 -3.3 -1.4 Professional and business services
448.5 435.3 429.2 431.0 -17.5 -3.9 Educational and health services
324.6 335.0 339.1 338.5 13.9 4.3 Leisure and hospitality
281.1 275.6 277.6 280.5 -0.6 -0.2 Other services
103.3 101.4 98.9 98.5 -4.8 -4.6 Government
384.9 386.8 391.5 392.7 7.8 2.0 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
Total nonfarm
1,907.5 1,767.7 1,773.0 1,772.2 -135.3 -7.1 Mining, logging, and construction
58.6 51.8 50.3 49.9 -8.7 -14.8 Manufacturing
243.2 195.3 200.2 202.1 -41.1 -16.9 Trade, transportation, and utilities
358.9 339.9 337.4 337.4 -21.5 -6.0 Information
32.4 30.9 30.7 30.2 -2.2 -6.8 Financial activities
107.6 100.5 100.3 99.5 -8.1 -7.5 Professional and business services
339.6 299.7 297.4 293.4 -46.2 -13.6 Educational and health services
280.9 281.4 283.5 283.8 2.9 1.0 Leisure and hospitality
175.7 168.7 168.7 170.4 -5.3 -3.0 Other services
86.2 84.2 84.8 84.8 -1.4 -1.6 Government
224.4 215.3 219.7 220.7 -3.7 -1.6 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Total nonfarm
2,592.0 2,576.8 2,571.4 2,577.6 -14.4 -0.6 Mining and logging
87.2 93.0 92.3 91.3 4.1 4.7 Construction
204.8 199.5 200.2 198.0 -6.8 -3.3 Manufacturing
238.3 241.2 238.8 237.3 -1.0 -0.4 Trade, transportation, and utilities
528.1 523.0 517.5 521.8 -6.3 -1.2 Information
36.7 35.5 35.6 35.5 -1.2 -3.3 Financial activities
144.2 141.3 141.7 142.2 -2.0 -1.4 Professional and business services
381.4 378.3 368.7 367.9 -13.5 -3.5 Educational and health services
281.0 288.2 289.8 290.5 9.5 3.4 Leisure and hospitality
232.2 222.4 226.4 231.5 -0.7 -0.3 Other services
90.9 89.7 90.3 90.5 -0.4 -0.4 Government
367.2 364.7 370.1 371.1 3.9 1.1 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
Total nonfarm
5,603.7 5,369.4 5,373.4 5,382.4 -221.3 -3.9 Mining and logging
5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 Construction
243.6 211.5 205.3 204.8 -38.8 -15.9 Manufacturing
615.3 578.8 575.2 573.8 -41.5 -6.7 Trade, transportation, and utilities
1,080.7 1,033.6 1,025.4 1,023.7 -57.0 -5.3 Information
243.4 217.3 227.8 236.1 -7.3 -3.0 Financial activities
355.2 337.2 335.6 335.3 -19.9 -5.6 Professional and business services
862.1 823.7 816.1 815.2 -46.9 -5.4 Educational and health services
655.3 652.3 667.0 669.2 13.9 2.1 Leisure and hospitality
573.2 554.5 554.5 553.2 -20.0 -3.5 Other services
194.5 189.6 190.4 190.0 -4.5 -2.3 Government
775.4 765.9 771.1 776.1 0.7 0.1 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Total nonfarm
2,420.2 2,319.8 2,313.8 2,306.8 -113.4 -4.7 Mining and logging
0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 -0.2 -25.0 Construction
144.1 121.4 118.1 113.6 -30.5 -21.2 Manufacturing
95.7 90.0 89.6 88.4 -7.3 -7.6 Trade, transportation, and utilities
550.3 527.6 524.4 524.6 -25.7 -4.7 Information
51.5 48.9 48.9 48.7 -2.8 -5.4 Financial activities
176.6 166.9 167.3 166.0 -10.6 -6.0 Professional and business services
365.2 343.6 342.4 339.2 -26.0 -7.1 Educational and health services
328.0 332.4 332.0 333.0 5.0 1.5 Leisure and hospitality
269.6 255.7 259.6 261.6 -8.0 -3.0 Other services
105.4 102.3 102.2 102.6 -2.8 -2.7 Government
333.0 330.4 328.7 328.5 -4.5 -1.4 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm
8,571.3 8,336.9 8,329.9 8,351.6 -219.7 -2.6 Mining, logging, and construction
351.0 318.9 311.8 317.0 -34.0 -9.7 Manufacturing
435.7 403.2 400.7 397.8 -37.9 -8.7 Trade, transportation, and utilities
1,599.6 1,563.8 1,541.7 1,540.6 -59.0 -3.7 Information
284.6 276.3 278.0 275.9 -8.7 -3.1 Financial activities
791.3 759.6 757.0 755.1 -36.2 -4.6 Professional and business services
1,313.4 1,250.1 1,244.2 1,249.8 -63.6 -4.8 Educational and health services
1,478.1 1,478.8 1,496.6 1,505.6 27.5 1.9 Leisure and hospitality
638.0 628.8 626.5 633.7 -4.3 -0.7 Other services
368.6 367.4 370.0 369.6 1.0 0.3 Government
1,311.0 1,290.0 1,303.4 1,306.5 -4.5 -0.3 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm
2,801.8 2,729.8 2,721.5 2,724.6 -77.2 -2.8 Mining, logging, and construction
121.2 107.6 103.6 103.6 -17.6 -14.5 Manufacturing
218.8 207.9 205.9 205.1 -13.7 -6.3 Trade, transportation, and utilities
523.9 511.1 503.1 504.6 -19.3 -3.7 Information
57.6 55.6 55.3 55.0 -2.6 -4.5 Financial activities
218.2 212.5 210.7 209.8 -8.4 -3.8 Professional and business services
428.0 409.2 404.8 406.4 -21.6 -5.0 Educational and health services
538.5 539.8 549.5 545.5 7.0 1.3 Leisure and hospitality
214.8 208.6 207.4 211.6 -3.2 -1.5 Other services
121.6 121.8 121.7 122.1 0.5 0.4 Government
359.2 355.7 359.5 360.9 1.7 0.5 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Total nonfarm
2,032.6 1,960.5 1,955.6 1,953.0 -79.6 -3.9 Mining and logging
1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 0.0 0.0 Construction
109.8 95.4 93.9 93.0 -16.8 -15.3 Manufacturing
137.5 131.6 130.7 130.3 -7.2 -5.2 Trade, transportation, and utilities
356.4 343.2 338.2 336.1 -20.3 -5.7 Information
68.0 66.4 65.9 65.6 -2.4 -3.5 Financial activities
145.6 137.3 136.1 135.9 -9.7 -6.7 Professional and business services
373.1 362.0 361.1 360.8 -12.3 -3.3 Educational and health services
235.2 232.6 235.6 235.8 0.6 0.3 Leisure and hospitality
211.5 205.0 204.0 204.8 -6.7 -3.2 Other services
75.1 72.9 73.0 72.7 -2.4 -3.2 Government
319.0 312.7 315.7 316.6 -2.4 -0.8 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm
2,985.9 2,955.3 2,961.6 2,967.6 -18.3 -0.6 Mining, logging, and construction
173.6 160.3 156.9 155.2 -18.4 -10.6 Manufacturing
61.2 59.2 58.7 58.6 -2.6 -4.2 Trade, transportation, and utilities
395.7 387.0 381.0 379.9 -15.8 -4.0 Information
92.3 88.7 88.2 87.2 -5.1 -5.5 Financial activities
154.5 149.1 148.6 149.1 -5.4 -3.5 Professional and business services
676.4 680.2 686.4 688.7 12.3 1.8 Educational and health services
336.4 340.7 344.6 346.7 10.3 3.1 Leisure and hospitality
252.3 252.5 250.6 251.6 -0.7 -0.3 Other services
182.6 182.1 182.5 184.2 1.6 0.9 Government
660.9 655.5 664.1 666.4 5.5 0.8
Last Modified Date: April 23, 2009
