Washington Metropolitan Area Job Count in April 2008
Rose by 28,400 Over the Year (PDF)

Total nonfarm employment for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 3,007,900 in April 2008, up 28,400, or 1.0 percent, over the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  Nonfarm employment growth in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area was higher than the national increase in jobs of 0.3 percent from April 2007 to April 2008.  Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that April’s advance was the 70th consecutive over-the-year increase in local payrolls, with growth extending back to July 2002 without interruption.  However, the recent over-the-year advance was well below the recent peak growth of 87,200 jobs recorded in November 2004.  (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 net change in the Washington metropolitan area and its components, January 2000-January 2008

In the greater Washington metropolitan area, the professional and business services supersector led employment growth from April 2007 to April 2008, adding 12,100 jobs, closely followed by government which gained 11,800 jobs. Also expanding their employment were education and health services (9,000) and other services (4,800).  Two other supersectors--leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation, and utilities--added at least 1,600 jobs to their counts over the last 12 months.  Supersectors losing jobs between April 2007 and April 2008 were natural resources, mining, and construction (-5,800); financial activities (-3,700); information (-2,100); and manufacturing (-1,100).

Metropolitan divisions

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area is comprised of two metropolitan divisions¾separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area.  Only the larger Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division added jobs (27,800) to its payrolls between April 2007 and April 2008.  Employment in the smaller Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md. Metropolitan Division varied by less than 1,000 jobs from April 2007.  The Washington division accounted for 81 percent of the workforce in the Washington area and the Bethesda division, the remainder.

Job growth in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division was similar to the growth in the larger metropolitan area.  The latest advance was led by continued increases in the professional and business services supersector, which added 13,300 jobs over the year.  The second-largest job gain occurred in government (8,800), followed by education and health services (8,100).  Three other supersectors--other services; leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation, and utilities--added at least 1,700 jobs to their counts over the last 12 months.  Manufacturing employment was little changed from last year.  The three remaining industries (natural resources, mining, and construction; financial activities; and information) all lost jobs between April 2007 and April 2008.

In the Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md. Metropolitan Division, government was the only supersector to add more than 1,000 jobs over the year, up 3,000 since April 2007, while professional and business services was the only one to lose more than 1,000 jobs, down 1,200 over the 12-month period.  Employment was little changed in the remaining eight supersectors.

Industry employment

Employment in professional and business services, the largest industry supersector in the greater Washington metropolitan area accounting for nearly one-fourth of the workforce, rose by 12,100 from April 2007 to April 2008, an increase of 1.8 percent.  This was more than twice the national growth rate of 0.8 percent for professional and business services.  (See chart B.)  All of the local increase was centered in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division.  As of April 2008, there were 686,800 professional and business services jobs in the Washington metropolitan area.

Over the last 12 months, the government supersector added 11,800 jobs--the largest over-the-year gain since August 2005.  Both metropolitan divisions gained jobs.  As of April 2008, there were 657,100 public sector jobs in the Washington metropolitan area.  Government accounted for over one-fifth of all employment in the Washington area, second to only professional and business services.  The recent increase represented a 1.8-percent 12-month advance.  Nationwide, government jobs grew at a slower pace over the year, 1.0 percent.

Locally, the education and health services supersector added 9,000 jobs since April 2007.  The 2.7-percent increase in local education and health services employment, along with an identical advance in other services jobs, was the largest percentage gain of all supersectors in Washington.  The national over-the-year growth rate in this industry was 3.0 percent.

Employment in the other services industry (which includes equipment and machinery repairing, promoting or administering religious activities, grantmaking, advocacy, and such services as providing dry cleaning and laundry, personal care, death care, pet care, photofinishing, temporary parking, and dating) rose by 4,800 in the Washington metropolitan area.  The recent advance represented an over-the-year increase of 2.7 percent, more than three times the national growth rate of 0.8 percent.

Chart B.  Over-the-year percent change in employment by selected industry supersector, United States and the Washington metropolitan area, April 2008

Leisure and hospitality employment rose by 1,800 since last April in the greater Washington area, a gain of 0.7 percent.  Since January 2002, there has been uninterrupted over-the-year job growth in this supersector.  Nevertheless, the local growth rate in leisure and hospitality in April 2008 was well below the 2.3-percent national average.

Employment in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector advanced by 1,600 from April 2007 to April 2008, an increase of 0.4 percent.  Nationwide, the job count in this supersector declined 0.3 percent.

Manufacturing lost 1,100 jobs from April a year ago in the metropolitan area, a decrease of 1.8 percent.   Nationally, this supersector experienced a decline of 2.4 percent. The last time manufacturing added 1,000 or more jobs in the Washington area was November 2000.  Since April of that year, the manufacturing supersector has lost 19,100 jobs, a decline of 23.9 percent.

Employment in the information supersector (which includes software publishing and both traditional publishing and publishing exclusively on the Internet; the motion picture and sound recording industries; the broadcasting industries, including traditional broadcasting and those broadcasting exclusively over the Internet; the telecommunications industries; and the industries known as Internet services providers and Web search portals, data processing industries; and the information services industries) fell by 2,100 jobs from last year’s count in the metropolitan area.  The local over-the-year decrease of 2.2 percent was larger than the 0.8-percent decline for the nation as a whole.

The financial activities supersector lost 3,700 jobs from April 2007 to April 2008--the 14th consecutive over-the-year decline in employment, following a nearly 11-year period of almost uninterrupted job gains. The 2.3-percent decrease in local employment in the financial services supersector was greater than the national decrease of 1.1 percent. 

Employment in natural resources, mining, and construction fell by 5,800 since last April.  The 3.1-percent decline was the largest percentage decrease of all supersectors in the Washington area.

Twelve largest metropolitan areas

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in April 2008.  Eight of these areas experienced over-the-year job growth greater than the national increase of 0.3 percent.  Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, registered the fastest rate of gain, up 2.8 percent from April 2007 to April 2008, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 2.3 percent.  The other six areas with above-average growth were:  Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. (1.2 percent),  Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (1.0 percent each);  San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (0.8 percent), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. (0.7 percent), and Philadelphia-Camden, Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del. (0.4 percent).   Job growth in Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis., equaled the national increase of 0.3 percent.  (See chart C.) 

Three areas lost jobs from April 2007:  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif., (-0.3 percent), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. (-0.6 percent), and Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. (-2.6 percent).  

The fastest growing industry supersector did not vary a lot among the 12 largest areas from April 2007 to April 2008.  Education and health services had the highest percentage increase in employment in seven areas among those industries adding at least 1,000 jobs:  Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia.  In Washington, D.C., education and health services tied with other services as the fastest-growing industry.  Among those industries losing at least 1,000 jobs from April a year ago, manufacturing had the largest percentage decline in 5 of the 12 areas (Boston, Dallas, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia),  and financial activities in 3 others (Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). 

The two metropolitan areas with the fastest rates of growth – Houston and Dallas – also added the most jobs.  Employment grew by 71,100 in Houston and 66,800 in Dallas from April 2007 to April 2008.  The only other area in which employment rose by more than 50,000 over the year was New York (57,600).  By contrast, one area lost over 50,000 jobs--Detroit, down 50,900 since April 2007. 

In 9 of the 12 areas – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia – education and health services added the most jobs.  In San Francisco and Washington, the professional and business services supersector had the largest numerical increase. The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector added the most jobs in the Houston area.

Chart C.  Over-the-year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest metropolitan areas, April 2008

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.

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 2002 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 10 percent of CES published series.

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/.

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 by subscription from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone 202-512-1800).

Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the CES 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.

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 November 20, 2007.  A detailed list of the geographic definitions is published annually in the May issue of Employment and Earnings. 

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia. 

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division (MD)includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George's Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.

The Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.