December 03, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Metropolitan area employment: October 2008–09
In October, 361 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year decreases in nonfarm payroll employment and 8 reported increases.
[Chart data]
The largest over-the-year increases in employment occurred in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+4,400), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington (+3,400), and Ocean City, New Jersey (+2,700). The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment were reported in Ocean City, New Jersey (+6.8 percent), Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington (+3.5 percent), and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas (+2.0 percent).
Over the year, nonfarm employment declined in all 38 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2008. The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona (‑7.3 percent), Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Michigan (‑7.2 percent), and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada (‑6.7 percent).
These data are from the State and Metropolitan Area Employment, Hours and Earnings program and are not seasonally adjusted. The most recent metropolitan area employment data are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment: October 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-1477.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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