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News Release Information

18-1694-CHI
Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Detroit Area Employment — September 2018

Local Area Job Growth Up 0.7 Percent Over the Year

Total nonfarm employment in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,027,000 in September 2018, up 14,000, or 0.7 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.7 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the Detroit metropolitan area has had over-the-year employment increases each month since September 2010. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Detroit metropolitan area is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills division, which accounted for 62 percent of the metropolitan area's employment, added 5,000 jobs from September a year ago, a gain of 0.4 percent. The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia Metropolitan Division, the area’s other employment center, added 9,000 jobs over the 12-month period, a 1.2-percent rise.

Industry employment

The leisure and hospitality supersector added 5,300 jobs in the local area from September 2017 to September 2018. The Detroit area’s 2.6-percent rate of job growth in leisure and hospitality was higher than the nationwide increase of 1.7 percent. (See chart 2.)  Local job gains were concentrated in the Detroit division, up 3,400 from the previous September.

Manufacturing had the second largest employment increase in the Detroit area, up 4,600 over the year. The 1.8-percent rate of local employment growth was lower than the national increase of 2.2 percent. Local job gains were concentrated in the Warren division, up 4,400, or 2.7 percent, from the previous September.

The mining, logging, and construction supersector added 3,500 jobs in the local area from September 2017 to September 2018. The 4.5-percent rate of job growth was the highest among the local area supersectors that posted annual employment gains since last September. Local employment growth in the supersector was concentrated in the Detroit division, which added 2,700 jobs.

Professional and business services, Detroit’s largest supersector, lost 2,000 jobs from September 2017 to September 2018. Job losses were concentrated in the Warren division, down 2,200. The local area’s rate of loss for professional and business services was 0.5 percent; nationally, this supersector had a 2.8-percent rate of job growth.

The information supersector in the Detroit area lost 1,400 jobs over the year, a decline of 5.0 percent. Nationally, information employment declined 0.5 percent from September the previous year.

Metropolitan area employment data for October 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, November 16, 2018.


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 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 2017 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month’s employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria.

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 the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this news release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.pdf.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on July 15, 2015. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, Mich. Metropolitan Division includes Wayne County in Michigan.

The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. Metropolitan Division includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties in Michigan.

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 from the BLS website 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: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, the United States and the Detroit metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)
Area and IndustrySep
2017
Jul
2018
Aug
2018
Sep
2018(p)
Sep 2017 to
Sep 2018(p)
Net
change
Percent
change

United States

Total nonfarm

147,177148,897149,391149,7412,5641.7

Mining and logging

696751763759639.1

Construction

7,1777,4967,5257,4773004.2

Manufacturing

12,50912,80612,81912,7872782.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,40227,77027,79727,7293271.2

Information

2,7782,7862,7882,763-15-0.5

Financial activities

8,4908,6628,6568,6081181.4

Professional and business services

20,62921,13521,22321,2015722.8

Education and health services

23,22123,32023,42223,6684471.9

Leisure and hospitality

16,22717,14417,07616,5092821.7

Other services

5,7755,9375,9125,862871.5

Government

22,27321,09021,41022,3781050.5

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area

Total nonfarm

2,013.02,023.92,028.92,027.014.00.7

Mining, logging, and construction

77.181.482.580.63.54.5

Manufacturing

252.0253.0256.5256.64.61.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

367.5372.2373.0368.91.40.4

Information

27.826.926.726.4-1.4-5.0

Financial activities

115.5117.7116.7115.70.20.2

Professional and business services

394.0389.1391.2392.0-2.0-0.5

Education and health services

311.1314.5313.6313.32.20.7

Leisure and hospitality

203.9218.9219.5209.25.32.6

Other services

76.576.776.976.4-0.1-0.1

Government

187.6173.5172.3187.90.30.2

Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

758.7764.9767.6767.79.01.2

Mining, logging, and construction

23.525.726.126.22.711.5

Manufacturing

91.489.191.891.60.20.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

141.6144.4145.2142.81.20.8

Information

7.67.27.27.1-0.5-6.6

Financial activities

37.138.938.337.80.71.9

Professional and business services

128.0127.7128.2128.20.20.2

Education and health services

132.5132.6132.3133.10.60.5

Leisure and hospitality

81.889.389.285.23.44.2

Other services

28.628.228.328.3-0.3-1.0

Government

86.681.881.087.40.80.9

Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

1,254.31,259.01,261.31,259.35.00.4

Mining, logging, and construction

53.655.756.454.40.81.5

Manufacturing

160.6163.9164.7165.04.42.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

225.9227.8227.8226.10.20.1

Information

20.219.719.519.3-0.9-4.5

Financial activities

78.478.878.477.9-0.5-0.6

Professional and business services

266.0261.4263.0263.8-2.2-0.8

Education and health services

178.6181.9181.3180.21.60.9

Leisure and hospitality

122.1129.6130.3124.01.91.6

Other services

47.948.548.648.10.20.4

Government

101.091.791.3100.5-0.5-0.5

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018