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News Release Information

16-1091-BOS
Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

Boston Area Employment — April 2016

Total nonfarm employment in the Boston-Cambridge-Nashua metropolitan area stood at 2,682,800 in April 2016, up 43,900 from one year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that nonfarm employment rose 1.7 percent locally from April a year ago. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.9 percent. (See chart 1 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.)

 

The Boston-Cambridge-Nashua area includes 10 metropolitan divisions – separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metropolitan Division, which made up 67 percent of the workforce, gained 29,900 jobs from April 2015 to April 2016. Seven of the other nine divisions for which data are published also added jobs over the year.

Industry employment

Education and health services, the largest industry in the Boston area, had the largest local employment gain, adding 13,600 jobs from April 2015 to April 2016. However, the 2.4-percent rate of local job growth in this supersector was lower than the 3.1-percent gain nationwide.

Professional and business services had the next largest annual employment gain in the Boston area from April 2015, adding 9,000 jobs, followed by mining, logging, and construction which added 8,900 jobs. The 2.0-percent rate of job growth in Boston’s professional and business services supersector was lower than the 3.1-percent gain nationwide.

Locally, financial activities and trade, transportation, and utilities added 6,100 and 5,800 jobs, respectively. The 3.4-percent rate of local job growth in financial activities was higher than the 2.0-percent gain nationwide, while the 1.4-percent local job growth rate in trade, transportation, and utilities was lower than the nation’s 1.8-percent gain.

 

Three other supersectors in the Boston area gained at least 1,000 jobs over the year— other services (+3,800), information (+1,200), and leisure and hospitality (+1,000). The local rates of job growth in other services (3.8 percent) and information (1.6 percent ) outpaced the 1.3-percent and 1.4-percent national increases, respectively, while the local job growth for leisure and hospitality (0.4 percent) lagged that for the nation (2.9 percent).

Two supersectors in the Boston area lost jobs over the year—manufacturing (-3,300) and government (-2,200). Nationally, government employment increased.

Employment in the 12 Largest Metropolitan Areas

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in April 2016. All 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with 8 exceeding the national average of 1.9 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington at 3.9 percent. The slowest rates of job growth were in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (0.3 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (1.6 percent) and Boston (1.7 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

 

Since April 2015, the New York-Newark-Jersey City area added the largest number of jobs, 173,900. Employment in both Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington also increased by over 130,000. Houston experienced the smallest employment gain over the year, adding 10,000 jobs, followed by Boston, up 43,900 jobs.

Professional and business services had the largest employment gains in 6 of the 12 metropolitan areas from April a year ago—Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services added the most jobs in three areas—Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. Four areas experienced no annual job losses in any supersector—Atlanta, Miami, New York and Philadelphia. Manufacturing had the largest over-the-year losses in Boston, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Metropolitan area employment data for May 2016 are scheduled to be released on Friday, June 17, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).


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 2012 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 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/.

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 on February 28, 2013. A detailed list of geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm. Areas in the six New England states are defined as Metropolitan New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs), while areas in other states are county-based and identified as metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.  However, for comparative purposes, the Boston NECTA and its divisions have been referred to as a metropolitan area and metropolitan divisions. 

 

The Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH Metropolitan New England City and Town Area (NECTA) includes 10 NECTA divisions--subdivisions of the larger NECTA which function as distinct social, economic, and cultural areas within the larger region. The NECTA divisions that compose the Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH NECTA include:  Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA, Framingham, MA, Haverhill- Newburyport-Amesbury town, MA-NH, Lawrence-Methuen town-Salem, MA-NH, Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH, Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA, Nashua, NH-MA, Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA, Taunton- Middleborough-Norton, MA, and select cities and towns within.  

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: (800)-877-8339.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, U.S. and Boston metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)
Area and IndustryAprFebMarAprApr 2015 to
2015201620162016(p)Apr 2016(p)
Net changePercent change

U.S.

 

  Total nonfarm

141,286141,992142,887143,9442,6581.9

    Mining and logging

834718704695-139-16.7

    Construction

6,2966,2136,3496,5582624.2

    Manufacturing

12,26112,23812,22912,241-20-0.2

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

26,57026,82726,96227,0474771.8

    Information

2,7432,7642,7772,782391.4

    Financial activities

8,0498,1588,1828,2091602.0

    Professional and business services

19,49119,72419,82920,0905993.1

    Educational and health services

22,09122,58122,67122,7676763.1

    Leisure and hospitality

14,93814,79515,04015,3764382.9

    Other services

5,6105,6265,6555,684741.3

    Government

22,40322,34822,48922,495920.4

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH

 

  Total nonfarm

2,638.92,625.62,643.52,682.843.91.7

    Mining, logging, and construction

98.699.5101.1107.58.99.0

    Manufacturing

192.0188.7188.4188.7-3.3-1.7

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

411.3410.3413.2417.15.81.4

    Information

76.776.977.077.91.21.6

    Financial activities

179.0184.1183.9185.16.13.4

    Professional and business services

451.2446.1448.2460.29.02.0

    Educational and health services

560.7568.6572.6574.313.62.4

    Leisure and hospitality

250.0236.0240.5251.01.00.4

    Other services

99.9100.1102.4103.73.83.8

    Government

319.5315.3316.2317.3-2.2-0.7

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA division

 

  Total nonfarm

1,769.41,760.21,773.01,799.329.91.7

    Mining, logging, and construction

60.661.462.165.65.08.3

    Manufacturing

81.880.880.580.8-1.0-1.2

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

242.3240.2242.1245.43.11.3

    Information

56.256.656.857.51.32.3

    Financial activities

147.8152.6152.3153.45.63.8

    Professional and business services

337.6334.8336.2344.06.41.9

    Educational and health services

405.7409.5412.7413.67.91.9

    Leisure and hospitality

171.6161.2164.2171.80.20.1

    Other services

66.366.968.769.33.04.5

    Government

199.5196.2197.4197.9-1.6-0.8

(p) Preliminary

 
Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, 12 largest metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)
Area and IndustryAprFebMarAprApr 2015 to
2015201620162016 (p)Apr 2016(p)
Net changePercent change

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

 

  Total nonfarm

2,563.42,611.22,625.22,646.783.33.2

    Mining and logging

1.41.51.51.50.17.1

    Construction

106.7112.4112.5113.87.16.7

    Manufacturing

155.7160.2161.0162.26.54.2

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

571.9586.7589.4591.519.63.4

    Information

88.086.286.188.00.00.0

    Financial activities

161.6161.9162.0162.30.70.4

    Professional and business services

471.2483.8484.8492.120.94.4

    Education and health services

316.8322.6325.9325.99.12.9

    Leisure and hospitality

268.7271.6275.0283.014.35.3

    Other services

96.396.396.997.10.80.8

    Government

325.1328.0330.1329.34.21.3

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH

 

  Total nonfarm

2,638.92,625.62,643.52,682.843.91.7

    Mining, logging, and construction

98.699.5101.1107.58.99.0

    Manufacturing

192.0188.7188.4188.7-3.3-1.7

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

411.3410.3413.2417.15.81.4

    Information

76.776.977.077.91.21.6

    Financial activities

179.0184.1183.9185.16.13.4

    Professional and business services

451.2446.1448.2460.29.02.0

    Education and health services

560.7568.6572.6574.313.62.4

    Leisure and hospitality

250.0236.0240.5251.01.00.4

    Other services

99.9100.1102.4103.73.83.8

    Government

319.5315.3316.2317.3-2.2-0.7

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

 

  Total nonfarm

4,550.14,542.24,573.34,624.174.01.6

    Mining and logging

1.61.21.31.4-0.2-12.5

    Construction

161.1149.5156.2166.55.43.4

    Manufacturing

411.6411.0411.0412.20.60.1

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

915.2920.2924.1928.613.41.5

    Information

80.480.780.781.00.60.7

    Financial activities

290.1290.2292.3290.20.10.0

    Professional and business services

800.1783.5787.8809.99.81.2

    Education and health services

700.7712.9711.9715.214.52.1

    Leisure and hospitality

444.0440.3451.1462.118.14.1

    Other services

193.4194.9195.2194.00.60.3

    Government

551.9557.8561.7563.011.12.0

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

 

  Total nonfarm

3,367.63,451.43,465.53,498.2130.63.9

    Mining, logging, and construction

197.6196.8197.1202.14.52.3

    Manufacturing

263.0260.1260.4261.2-1.8-0.7

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

708.9740.4744.9748.039.15.5

    Information

79.980.680.379.6-0.3-0.4

    Financial activities

273.3283.2283.8287.213.95.1

    Professional and business services

554.2566.5567.8573.719.53.5

    Education and health services

413.2425.3427.1431.418.24.4

    Leisure and hospitality

347.4359.4363.5371.724.37.0

    Other services

118.6117.3118.2120.41.81.5

    Government

411.5421.8422.4422.911.42.8

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

 

  Total nonfarm

2,983.52,983.22,987.52,993.510.00.3

    Mining and logging

102.390.190.588.2-14.1-13.8

    Construction

214.4220.7219.0219.95.52.6

    Manufacturing

250.8234.5234.7232.3-18.5-7.4

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

606.3609.1610.7612.66.31.0

    Information

32.431.931.031.7-0.7-2.2

    Financial activities

150.5151.6152.2151.81.30.9

    Professional and business services

471.7459.7459.5459.1-12.6-2.7

    Education and health services

364.9378.4377.3381.917.04.7

    Leisure and hospitality

298.3309.3312.9316.918.66.2

    Other services

106.3105.6105.7105.7-0.6-0.6

    Government

385.6392.3394.0393.47.82.0

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

 

  Total nonfarm

5,787.75,890.95,917.25,942.7155.02.7

    Mining and logging

4.74.24.14.1-0.6-12.8

    Construction

211.0225.0225.7230.419.49.2

    Manufacturing

518.3510.0511.9511.3-7.0-1.4

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,061.31,077.71,079.11,082.921.62.0

    Information

229.0235.7237.5240.811.85.2

    Financial activities

328.9332.3333.6335.16.21.9

    Professional and business services

877.9893.4896.7901.823.92.7

    Education and health services

938.2975.3980.3982.244.04.7

    Leisure and hospitality

685.4698.7703.4708.222.83.3

    Other services

199.7200.5200.9202.32.61.3

    Government

733.3738.1744.0743.610.31.4

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

 

  Total nonfarm

2,502.12,556.12,561.72,570.168.02.7

    Mining and logging

0.60.60.60.60.00.0

    Construction

109.1116.1117.0119.110.09.2

    Manufacturing

83.585.785.684.91.41.7

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

580.6591.0591.1591.711.11.9

    Information

47.648.048.248.10.51.1

    Financial activities

173.2180.3181.2182.59.35.4

    Professional and business services

401.2411.6411.7413.412.23.0

    Education and health services

366.4374.8374.7376.610.22.8

    Leisure and hospitality

311.4316.9319.1320.49.02.9

    Other services

121.2123.4124.0124.02.82.3

    Government

307.3307.7308.5308.81.50.5

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

 

  Total nonfarm

9,285.89,294.69,380.59,459.7173.91.9

    Mining, logging, and construction

362.9353.6369.2381.118.25.0

    Manufacturing

365.8369.6369.0369.53.71.0

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,694.91,695.31,698.41,707.512.60.7

    Information

282.4287.1287.4285.53.11.1

    Financial activities

755.8762.7765.4766.811.01.5

    Professional and business services

1,472.21,468.11,484.41,496.824.61.7

    Education and health services

1,788.61,815.71,836.71,843.454.83.1

    Leisure and hospitality

848.0822.8840.6868.720.72.4

    Other services

408.2413.4415.9420.212.02.9

    Government

1,307.01,306.31,313.51,320.213.21.0

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

 

  Total nonfarm

2,818.62,828.22,854.22,881.863.22.2

    Mining, logging, and construction

109.0105.0108.2113.14.13.8

    Manufacturing

180.8181.0182.2182.71.91.1

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

511.7514.5519.6522.310.62.1

    Information

46.146.346.346.50.40.9

    Financial activities

206.9209.4209.4209.02.11.0

    Professional and business services

446.5452.0457.0463.116.63.7

    Education and health services

608.9620.4620.2623.014.12.3

    Leisure and hospitality

249.8239.0248.4258.58.73.5

    Other services

117.0118.1118.6119.52.52.1

    Government

341.9342.5344.3344.12.20.6

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

 

  Total nonfarm

1,909.31,963.31,970.91,978.168.83.6

    Mining and logging

3.33.33.33.30.00.0

    Construction

97.4103.0105.0104.67.27.4

    Manufacturing

118.7119.6120.1118.3-0.4-0.3

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

370.7382.0382.2383.312.63.4

    Information

36.438.238.339.22.87.7

    Financial activities

165.0174.2175.1175.410.46.3

    Professional and business services

318.3331.4329.6335.617.35.4

    Education and health services

279.5291.1291.6291.812.34.4

    Leisure and hospitality

212.4212.5217.2216.94.52.1

    Other services

65.266.367.066.61.42.1

    Government

242.4241.7241.5243.10.70.3

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

 

  Total nonfarm

2,238.92,285.22,297.32,310.271.33.2

    Mining and logging

1.00.90.90.9-0.1-10.0

    Construction

106.2113.2114.6117.110.910.3

    Manufacturing

124.2126.6126.7127.33.12.5

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

358.8370.4370.6367.89.02.5

    Information

83.085.886.386.13.13.7

    Financial activities

128.1128.5129.1129.41.31.0

    Professional and business services

457.8470.5472.5475.617.83.9

    Education and health services

328.1339.3341.2340.412.33.7

    Leisure and hospitality

256.0255.7257.5265.89.83.8

    Other services

83.482.683.484.00.60.7

    Government

312.3311.7314.5315.83.51.1

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

 

  Total nonfarm

3,160.63,179.63,206.63,232.371.72.3

    Mining, logging, and construction

148.1149.3156.1158.910.87.3

    Manufacturing

52.652.252.452.5-0.1-0.2

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

396.1401.7405.9410.514.43.6

    Information

77.275.475.275.1-2.1-2.7

    Financial activities

152.6154.1154.3154.72.11.4

    Professional and business services

718.8722.4730.1735.716.92.4

    Education and health services

417.6422.7423.4424.77.11.7

    Leisure and hospitality

305.8304.1310.4320.514.74.8

    Other services

196.3197.6199.2199.43.11.6

    Government

695.5700.1699.6700.34.80.7

(p) Preliminary

 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 08, 2016