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Metropolitan area employment in March 2015

May 04, 2015

In March, 344 metropolitan areas had over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 41 had decreases, and 2 had no change. From March 2014 to March 2015, the largest employment increases occurred in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California (+168,500 or 3.0 percent), New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania (+151,600; 1.7 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+115,800; 3.6 percent).

Nonfarm employment and 12-month change in employment, selected metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted, March 2015
Metropolitan area Employment, March 2015 12-month change
Number employed Percent

Cheyenne, WY

47,300 1,200 2.6

Billings, MT

81,800 1,200 1.5

Manchester, NH

107,600 3,000 2.9

Burlington-South Burlington, VT

123,500 2,900 2.4

Fargo, ND

138,200 4,900 3.7

Huntington-Ashland, WV

139,700 300 0.2

Salisbury, DE

142,600 1,200 0.8

Sioux Falls, SD

146,100 1,700 1.2

Anchorage, AK

176,600 500 0.3

Portland-South Portland, ME

189,800 2,100 1.1

Trenton, NJ

252,400 3,600 1.4

Jackson, MS

272,800 4,400 1.6

Boise City, ID

284,100 3,800 1.4

Wichita, KS

290,900 400 0.1

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

344,400 7,400 2.2

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

347,900 3,100 0.9

Albuquerque, NM

378,800 5,000 1.3

Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC

394,600 9,200 2.4

Urban Honolulu, HI

467,700 4,300 0.9

Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE

486,500 8,100 1.7

Birmingham-Hoover, AL

515,100 7,700 1.5

Providence-Warwick, RI

562,000 7,900 1.4

New Orleans-Metairie, LA

562,900 -800 -0.1

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

567,800 9,600 1.7

Oklahoma City, OK

626,000 12,200 2.0

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY

637,200 23,200 3.8

Salt Lake City, UT

669,900 23,200 3.6

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

748,200 4,500 0.6

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

834,600 3,900 0.5

Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN

887,000 22,600 2.6

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV

897,600 25,100 2.9

Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN

1,002,700 26,000 2.7

Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN

1,042,000 14,400 1.4

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

1,089,100 36,700 3.5

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

1,091,200 30,800 2.9

St. Louis, MO-IL

1,313,000 14,600 1.1

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

1,339,100 15,100 1.1

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

1,360,700 46,700 3.6

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

1,873,900 63,300 3.5

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

1,889,700 39,600 2.1

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

1,904,600 55,500 3.0

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

1,909,600 38,200 2.0

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

2,505,100 91,800 3.8

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

2,542,200 80,500 3.3

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH

2,584,000 39,100 1.5

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

2,786,500 35,300 1.3

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC

3,126,200 50,700 1.6

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

3,337,300 115,800 3.6

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

4,480,400 62,600 1.4

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

5,842,500 168,500 3.0

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

9,145,900 151,600 1.7

Note: Data are preliminary.

The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Ocean City, New Jersey (+7.8 percent), followed by Midland, Texas (+7.7 percent), and Lake Charles, Louisiana (+7.4 percent).

The largest over-the-year decreases in employment occurred in Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi (−2,700), El Centro, California (−1,700), and Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (−1,500). The largest over-the-year percentage decreases in employment occurred in Great Falls, Montana (−3.1 percent), El Centro, California (−3.0 percent), and Florence-Muscle Shoals, Alabama (−2.0 percent).

Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 50 of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more. The only decrease in employment was in New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana (−800, or −0.1 percent).

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Area) program. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — March 2015" (HTML) (PDF). The chart shows the employment and 12-month changes for the metropolitan area with the most employment in March 2015 among all metropolitan areas primarily located in each state.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Metropolitan area employment in March 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/metro-area-employment-march-2015.htm (visited April 23, 2024).

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