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Employment increases in 288 metro areas in October

November 29, 2012

In October, 288 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, 80 reported decreases, and 4 had no change. The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA (+128,000), followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+95,800), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California (+78,300).

Over-the-year nonfarm employment changes, selected metropolitan areas, October 2011-October 2012
Over-the-year nonfarm employment changes, selected metropolitan areas, October 2011–October 2012
Metropolitan areaChange in employment (p)

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

128,000

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX

95,800

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA

78,300

Lafayette, LA

13,200

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

-3,500

Colorado Springs, CO

-4,400

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

-5,800

Footnotes:
(p) Preliminary
 

 

The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin (−5,800), followed by Colorado Springs, Colorado (−4,400), and Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia-South Carolina (−3,500).

The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment was reported in Lafayette, Louisiana (where employment increased by 13,200 jobs or 8.5 percent), followed by Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana (+7.3 percent), and Columbus, Indiana (+7.2 percent). The largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment was reported in Lawton, Oklahoma (−3.9 percent), followed by Auburn-Opelika, Alabama, and Dalton, Georgia (−3.8 percent each), and Las Cruces, New Mexico (−3.7 percent). 

Over the year, nonfarm employment rose in 36 of the 37 metropolitan areas with annual average employment levels above 750,000 in 2011. The largest over-the-year percentage increases in employment in these large metropolitan areas were posted in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+3.6 percent); Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (+3.5 percent each); and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington (+3.1 percent). The only large metropolitan area that reported a percentage decrease was Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin (−0.7 percent).

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. These data are not seasonally adjusted. See "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — October 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-2324, to learn more.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment increases in 288 metro areas in October at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20121129.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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