Baltimore Area Employment – March 2012

Rate of Employment Growth Similar to National Average

Total nonfarm employment for the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 1,296,700 in March 2012, up 18,100 or 1.4 percent over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Nationally, employment rose 1.5 percent from March a year ago. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the March increase was the 24th consecutive month of over-the-year job gains in the area, following 22 months of consecutive job losses. (See chart 1 and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains the metropolitan area definition. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

From March 2011 to March 2012, the Baltimore area added 10,800 jobs in education and health services, more than in any other supersector. The increase was led by the educational services industry, particularly in Baltimore City, which added 5,800 jobs in this industry. Overall, education and health services employment grew 4.4 percent in the Baltimore area, nearly twice the national advance of 2.3 percent, since March 2011.

The professional and business services supersector had the second-largest job gain locally, up 9,100 over the 12-month period. The rate of job growth in this industry, 4.9 percent, was faster than the national growth rate of 3.5 percent. (See chart 2.)

Government employment grew by 5,300 jobs in the Baltimore area from March 2011 to March 2012; in contrast, public sector employment decreased nationwide. Over the year, the other services supersector added 2,800 jobs in the area, with the local growth rate of 5.1 percent far exceeding the national growth rate of 0.6 percent. Mining, logging, and construction employment also increased in the Baltimore area, adding 1,700 jobs over the last 12 months.

The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector lost 6,000 jobs from March 2011 to March 2012, more than any other supersector in the Baltimore area. The majority of the decline was in the wholesale trade industry, which lost 4,800 jobs over the year. The local rate of decline for trade, transportation, and utilities employment was 2.7 percent; nationally, this supersector gained jobs at a rate of 1.2 percent.

Three other industries also lost more than 1,000 jobs in the Baltimore area since March 2011: leisure and hospitality (-1,800), manufacturing (-1,700), and information (-1,200). In contrast, the leisure and hospitality and manufacturing industries gained jobs nationwide. The information supersector lost jobs both locally and nationally; however, the local 6.6-percent rate of decline was far greater than the national rate of 1.5 percent.

 

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 between State employment security agencies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which 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 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 which 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 and administrative data 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 are also 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 special 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 for state CES data at the supersector level are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available 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, dated December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Baltimore-Towson, Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland.

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 online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics 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 Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States, the Baltimore-Towson metropolitan area, and Baltimore City not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Mar 2011	Jan 2012	Feb 2012	Mar 2012 (1)	Mar 2011 to Mar 2012 (1)
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		130,061	130,297	131,199	132,010	1,949	1.5
Mining and logging		741	813	817	820	79	10.7
Construction		5,158	5,158	5,129	5,215	57	1.1
Manufacturing		11,588	11,755	11,774	11,842	254	2.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities		24,600	25,047	24,837	24,907	307	1.2
Information		2,667	2,599	2,643	2,628	-39	-1.5
Financial activities		7,641	7,645	7,652	7,681	40	0.5
Professional and business services		16,994	17,335	17,488	17,596	602	3.5
Education and health services		19,891	19,977	20,298	20,356	465	2.3
Leisure and hospitality		12,881	12,817	12,943	13,212	331	2.6
Other services		5,305	5,293	5,307	5,337	32	0.6
Government		22,595	21,858	22,311	22,416	-179	-0.8
Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,278.6	1,275.5	1,288.7	1,296.7	18.1	1.4
Mining, logging, and construction		65.4	65.3	65.7	67.1	1.7	2.6
Manufacturing		62.1	61.3	60.6	60.4	-1.7	-2.7
Trade, transportation, & utilities		225.7	223.3	218.5	219.7	-6.0	-2.7
Information		18.2	17.1	17.1	17.0	-1.2	-6.6
Financial activities		73.9	73.1	73.3	73.0	-0.9	-1.2
Professional & business services		186.7	190.0	193.8	195.8	9.1	4.9
Education & health services		243.4	247.7	254.3	254.2	10.8	4.4
Leisure & hospitality		108.8	104.2	104.4	107.0	-1.8	-1.7
Other services		55.2	58.6	57.8	58.0	2.8	5.1
Government		239.2	234.9	243.2	244.5	5.3	2.2
Baltimore City
Total Nonfarm		358.3	357.2	363.7	367.3	9.0	2.5
Mining, logging, and construction		9.2	8.9	8.9	9.1	-0.1	-1.1
Manufacturing		13.1	12.4	12.3	12.4	-0.7	-5.3
Trade, transportation, & utilities		39.4	39.1	38.4	38.6	-0.8	-2.0
Information		4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	0.0
Financial activities		18.2	17.7	17.7	17.7	-0.5	-2.7
Professional & business services		38.4	39.0	40.2	41.0	2.6	6.8
Education & health services		110.8	115.4	118.4	118.9	8.1	7.3
Leisure & hospitality		24.3	22.3	22.5	23.3	-1.0	-4.1
Other services		16.7	16.5	16.5	16.7	0.0	0.0
Government		84.2	81.9	84.8	85.6	1.4	1.7
Footnotes (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary; U.S. data are preliminary for two months.
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Return to Mid-Atlantic Information Office Homepage menu

 

Last Modified Date: May 2, 2012