Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment

September 30, 2008
Unemployment rates were higher in August than a year earlier in 354 of the 369 metropolitan areas, lower in 13 areas, and unchanged in 2 areas. Among the 310 metropolitan areas for which nonfarm payroll data were available in August, 161 areas reported over-the-year increases in employment, 142 reported decreases, and 7 had no change. More...
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Regional and State Employment and Unemployment

September 19, 2008
In August, 44 states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the- month unemployment rate increases, 5 states registered decreases, and 1 state had no change. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 18 states. More...
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Current SAE Economic News Releases

• Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment
• Regional and State Employment and Unemployment
• Upcoming Release Dates for the rest of this calendar year.

Archived

• Archived Regional and State Employment and Unemployment News Releases (1993 forward)
• Archived Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment News Releases (1998 forward)

Databases

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Tutorials: For help, try these tutorials
Employment, Hours, and Earnings - State and Metro Area (Current Employment Statistics - CES)

More Tools

• Series Report —Already know the series identifier for the statistic you want? Use this shortcut to retrieve your data.

All SAE Databases

Monthly Tables

• Experimental All-Employee Estimates of Hours and Earnings by State
• Monthly Tables
  • B-7 Employees on nonfarm payrolls by State and major industry, seasonally adjusted (PDF)
  • B-14 Employees on nonfarm payrolls in States and selected areas by major industry (PDF)
  • B-15 Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state, selected metropolitan areas, and metropolitan divisions (PDF)
  • B-19 Average hours and earnings of production and non-supervisory workers on manufacturing payrolls, by State (PDF)

  2007 Annual Average Tables

  • Employees on nonfarm payrolls in States and selected areas by major industry (PDF)
  • Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state, selected metropolitan areas, and metropolitan divisions (PDF)
  • Average hours and earnings of production workers on manufacturing payrolls in States and selected areas (PDF)

• Monthly Labor Review Articles by CES staff
  • Job growth in the 1990s: a retrospect (Abstract) (Excerpt) (PDF 71K)
  • Job growth in television: cable versus broadcast (Abstract) (Excerpt) (PDF 71K)
  • The impact of strikes on current employment statistics (Technical note 45K)
• Technical Notes
  • Employment and Earnings Technical Notes
  • Handbook of Methods, Chapter 2
  • 2007 North America Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes from the Census Bureau
• CES Report Forms for Establishments
• Related Research
  • Reliability of State and Area Estimates --Notes on variance and benchmark revisions; and standard errors associated with 1-, 3-, and 12-month changes for employment estimates.
• Current Benchmark Information
  • Revisions in State Establishment-based Employment Estimates Effective January 2008
  • Archived Benchmark Information

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I receive a copy of the State and Area press release?
2. Please explain the seasonal adjustment process.
3. What is the CES definition of employment?
4. On what basis are the industries in the CES Survey classified?
5. What kinds of hours and earnings data are available?
6. How are the data in the Current Employment Statistics Survey collected?
7. How are estimates in the CES Survey derived?
8. Why are estimates in the CES Survey benchmarked?
9. Are CES Estimates Revised? If so, how?
10. Are CES data subject to administrative mandates?
11. What distinguishes the CES geographic data from other economic data? Are there potential problems with using the data?
12. I have a question, but it is not on this list...
13. I want to learn more about the CES survey; can you provide me with some references so I can explore on my own?

All SAE FAQs »

• Experimental All-Employee Estimates of Hours and Earnings by State
• IMPORTANT Reductions to Current Employment Statistics Metropolitan Area Series
• List of Published State and Metropolitan Area Series
• Changes to Current Employment Statistics Survey
• IMPORTANT Effects of Hurricane Katrina on BLS Data Collection and Estimation
• Notice of Series Changes with the Update to 2007 North American Industry Classification and Annual Benchmark Release on March 11, 2008
• Details and Documentation on the Conversion to the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) from 2002 NAICS
• Recent Corrections to State and Metro Area Current Employment Statistics Series

Other BLS Programs

• Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National)--monthly national data by detailed industry on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on the payrolls of nonfarm establishments.
• Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages --comprehensive employment and wage data by industry and geographic area for workers covered by State Unemployment Insurance laws.
• Local Area Unemployment Statistics--monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor force data for Census regions and divisions, States, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence.
• Sources of BLS Employment Data

Other Useful Links

• Bureau of the Census
• Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
• FEDSTATS --Searchable gateway to statistics from over 100 Federal agencies