Total nonfarm employment for the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 764,600 in June 2014, up 2,200 or 0.3 percent over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count rose 1.9 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the local area’s June 2014 employment increase followed five consecutive months of over-the-year declines. (See chart 1 and table 1. The Technical Note at the end of this release contains the metropolitan area definition. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

  

In the Virginia Beach metropolitan area, employment in the education and health services supersector increased by 3,400 from June 2013 to June 2014. The trade, transportation, and utilities and leisure and hospitality industries had gains of 3,000 and 2,000 jobs, respectively. The local rate of growth in education and health services, at 3.3 percent, exceeded the national rate of 1.9 percent; meanwhile, leisure and hospitality grew at a slower rate locally (2.2 percent) than nationally (2.8 percent). The local growth rate for trade, transportation, and utilities was identical to the national growth rate, each up 2.3 percent since June 2013. (See chart 2.)

 

  

In the Virginia Beach area, the professional and business services supersector lost 2,900 jobs from June 2013 to June 2014—more than any other industry—representing a 2.8-percent employment decrease over the year. Nationally, professional and business services employment increased 3.5 percent since June 2013.

Two other industries recorded local job losses of 1,000 or more since last June: government (-1,900) and mining, logging, and construction (-1,600). Mining, logging, and construction has posted consecutive over-the-year job losses for the last nine months; over-the-year job declines for government have been uninterrupted for two years. Government employment in the Virginia Beach area declined by 1.2 percent while nationally, it gained jobs at a 0.3-percent pace.

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 (NAICS).

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/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.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 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/.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

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 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York Counties and Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg cities in Virginia and Currituck County in North Carolina.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and the Virginia Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Jun 2013	Apr 2014	May 2014	Jun 2014	Jun 2013 to Jun 2014
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		137,195	138,265	(P) 139,179	(P) 139,761	(P) 2,566	(P) 1.9
Mining and logging		873	892	(P) 900	(P) 917	(P) 44	(P) 5.0
Construction		6,018	5,869	(P) 6,054	(P) 6,210	(P) 192	(P) 3.2
Manufacturing		12,074	12,035	(P) 12,096	(P) 12,203	(P) 129	(P) 1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities		25,852	26,056	(P) 26,256	(P) 26,443	(P) 591	(P) 2.3
Information		2,694	2,655	(P) 2,653	(P) 2,668	(P) -26	(P) -1.0
Financial activities		7,933	7,886	(P) 7,919	(P) 7,997	(P) 64	(P) 0.8
Professional and business services		18,681	19,061	(P) 19,153	(P) 19,342	(P) 661	(P) 3.5
Education and health services		20,874	21,534	(P) 21,486	(P) 21,265	(P) 391	(P) 1.9
Leisure and hospitality		14,871	14,469	(P) 14,864	(P) 15,280	(P) 409	(P) 2.8
Other services		5,531	5,501	(P) 5,537	(P) 5,571	(P) 40	(P) 0.7
Government		21,794	22,307	(P) 22,261	(P) 21,865	(P) 71	(P) 0.3
Virginia Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm		762.4	749.2	754.6	(P) 764.6	(P) 2.2	(P) 0.3
Mining, logging, and construction		35.3	33.6	33.0	(P) 33.7	(P) -1.6	(P) -4.5
Manufacturing		54.3	53.7	53.9	(P) 54.2	(P) -0.1	(P) -0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities		129.0	128.1	130.9	(P) 132.0	(P) 3.0	(P) 2.3
Information		11.6	11.2	11.2	(P) 11.1	(P) -0.5	(P) -4.3
Financial activities		38.5	36.4	37.4	(P) 39.4	(P) 0.9	(P) 2.3
Professional and business services		103.4	100.3	99.5	(P) 100.5	(P) -2.9	(P) -2.8
Education and health services		103.7	108.4	107.5	(P) 107.1	(P) 3.4	(P) 3.3
Leisure and hospitality		91.9	84.3	88.8	(P) 93.9	(P) 2.0	(P) 2.2
Other services		36.6	36.1	36.3	(P) 36.5	(P) -0.1	(P) -0.3
Government		158.1	157.1	156.1	(P) 156.2	(P) -1.9	(P) -1.2
Footnotes (P) Preliminary
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