Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

20-1328-ATL
Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Miami Area Employment – May 2020

Local Rate of Employment Loss Below the National Average

Total nonfarm employment for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,427,900 in May 2020, down 291,800 over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Miami’s rate of job loss, at 10.7 percent, was below the national decline of 11.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that Miami’s over-the-year employment loss in May was less than the 371,400 jobs lost in April. (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 Miami area is made up of three metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. All three divisions lost jobs over the year. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, the largest of the three divisions with 45 percent of the area’s employment, lost 122,800 jobs from May a year ago. The Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach Division, which accounted for 32 percent of Miami area’s workforce, lost 97,700 jobs, while the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach Division lost 71,300 jobs over the 12-month period.

Industry employment

Employment in Miami’s leisure and hospitality supersector fell sharply (-129,100) for the 12 months ending in May, the largest loss of jobs among local major industry sectors. Miami’s 38.3-percent rate of job loss for the leisure and hospitality industry compared to the 40.6-percent national decline. (See chart 2.)

The trade, transportation, and utilities sector in the Miami area lost 50,100 jobs, an 8.2-percent decline over the year. Over half of the jobs lost in this sector were in the Miami metropolitan division (-26,100). Nationally, employment in trade, transportation, and utilities was down 10.0 percent over the year.

Two other supersectors in the Miami area lost over 30,000 jobs since last May. The professional and business services supersector in the local area lost 39,300 jobs, down 8.8 percent; nationwide, employment in professional and business services was down 8.7 percent. Miami’s education and health services industry lost 33,400 jobs over the year, down 8.1 percent; nationwide, employment in this supersector was down 7.6 percent.

Five other local area supersectors had job losses greater than 1,000, ranging from 16,600 in other services to 1,100 in construction.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in May 2020. All 12 areas had over-the-year job losses during the period, with the rates of job losses in 6 areas exceeding the national decrease of 11.8 percent. New York-Newark-Jersey City had the highest rate of job loss (-18.1 percent), followed by Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (-16.2 percent). Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (-5.1 percent) had the slowest rate of job loss. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York lost the largest number of jobs over the year (-1,811,400), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (-859,000). The smallest employment loss occurred in Phoenix (-111,000). Annual losses in the remaining nine metropolitan areas ranged from 576,700 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to 226,800 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.

Over the year, leisure and hospitality lost the most jobs in all 12 metropolitan areas. New York had the largest loss of jobs for this sector (-589,100), followed by Los Angeles (-342,700). Phoenix had the smallest job loss for the leisure and hospitality sector (-62,500), followed by Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (-86,600). The remaining eight areas had job losses of over 100,000 for this industry sector.

Dallas was the only area to have job gains over 1,000 in any supersector from May 2019 to May 2020, with an increase of 9,000 jobs in financial activities.

Metropolitan area employment data for June 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, July 17, 2020.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on May 2020 Establishment Survey Data

BLS has continued to review all estimation and methodological procedures for the establishment survey, which included the review of data, estimation processes, the application of the birth-death model, and seasonal adjustment. Business births and deaths cannot be adequately captured by the establishment survey as they occur. Therefore, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program uses a model to account for the relatively stable net employment change generated by business births and deaths. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the relationship between business births and deaths is no longer stable. Typically, reports with zero employment are not included in estimation. For the April final estimates, CES included a portion of these reports in the estimates and made modifications to the birth-death model. For the May 2020 preliminary estimates, in addition to the inclusion of reported zeros and the modification of the model, the establishment survey included a portion of the reports that returned to reporting positive employment from reporting zero employment. For more information, see www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm.

In the establishment survey, workers who are paid by their employer for all or any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month are counted as employed, even if they were not actually at their jobs. Workers who are temporarily or permanently absent from their jobs and are not being paid are not counted as employed, even if they are continuing to receive benefits. The length of the reference period does vary across the respondents in the establishment survey; one-third of businesses have a weekly pay period, slightly over 40 percent a bi-weekly, about 20 percent semi-monthly, and a small amount monthly.


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.

For some employment series, the sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

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 surveys, administrative data, and modeling 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/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.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 at the supersector level and for the private service-providing, goods-producing, total private and total nonfarm levels are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/publications/benchmark-article/annual-benchmark-article.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 April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach in Florida.

  • The Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division includes Broward County in Florida.
  • The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division includes Miami-Dade County in Florida
  • The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metropolitan Division includes Palm Beach County in Florida.

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, United States and the Miami metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)
Area and IndustryMay
2019
Mar
2020
Apr
2020
May
2020(p)
May 2019 to May 2020(p)
Net changePercent change

United States

Total nonfarm

151,109150,073130,411133,342-17,767-11.8

Mining and logging

739696641631-108-14.6

Construction

7,5407,2956,4867,110-430-5.7

Manufacturing

12,81012,74711,42711,677-1,133-8.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,55427,39924,28324,790-2,764-10.0

Information

2,8422,8742,6132,570-272-9.6

Financial activities

8,7078,7808,5188,573-134-1.5

Professional and business services

21,23921,17319,22219,384-1,855-8.7

Education and health services

24,12124,51821,98522,281-1,840-7.6

Leisure and hospitality

16,78815,7148,5209,978-6,810-40.6

Other services

5,9135,8134,5724,870-1,043-17.6

Government

22,85623,06422,14421,478-1,378-6.0

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area

Total nonfarm

2,719.72,726.92,352.72,427.9-291.8-10.7

Mining and logging

0.70.80.80.80.114.3

Construction

141.2141.0131.6140.1-1.1-0.8

Manufacturing

91.490.379.783.0-8.4-9.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

608.2617.7551.6558.1-50.1-8.2

Information

51.551.048.047.8-3.7-7.2

Financial activities

188.2191.1189.1187.3-0.9-0.5

Professional and business services

448.4454.0399.4409.1-39.3-8.8

Education and health services

411.7412.9370.6378.3-33.4-8.1

Leisure and hospitality

337.1323.1173.9208.0-129.1-38.3

Other services

120.7120.595.6104.1-16.6-13.8

Government

320.6324.5312.4311.3-9.3-2.9

Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

1,213.81,224.41,064.51,091.0-122.8-10.1

Mining and logging

0.50.60.60.60.120.0

Construction

53.253.251.054.81.63.0

Manufacturing

42.440.636.336.3-6.1-14.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities

299.2305.0270.8273.1-26.1-8.7

Information

20.721.120.520.6-0.1-0.5

Financial activities

81.481.781.381.2-0.2-0.2

Professional and business services

181.1183.7162.3165.3-15.8-8.7

Education and health services

192.9197.4176.6179.0-13.9-7.2

Leisure and hospitality

146.5142.780.391.8-54.7-37.3

Other services

50.150.339.744.0-6.1-12.2

Government

145.8148.1145.1144.3-1.5-1.0

Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

864.7861.5741.5767.0-97.7-11.3

Construction

49.248.244.547.2-2.0-4.1

Manufacturing

28.829.024.127.1-1.7-5.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

193.6198.3177.5181.7-11.9-6.1

Information

20.019.818.318.0-2.0-10.0

Financial activities

64.166.264.763.9-0.2-0.3

Professional and business services

152.2156.0138.9140.8-11.4-7.5

Education and health services

112.6110.297.0101.2-11.4-10.1

Leisure and hospitality

98.989.544.453.4-45.5-46.0

Other services

37.536.528.930.6-6.9-18.4

Government

107.7107.7103.1103.0-4.7-4.4

West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

641.2641.0546.7569.9-71.3-11.1

Construction

38.839.636.138.1-0.7-1.8

Manufacturing

20.220.719.319.6-0.6-3.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

115.4114.4103.3103.3-12.1-10.5

Information

10.810.19.29.2-1.6-14.8

Financial activities

42.743.243.142.2-0.5-1.2

Professional and business services

115.1114.398.2103.0-12.1-10.5

Education and health services

106.2105.397.098.1-8.1-7.6

Leisure and hospitality

91.790.949.262.8-28.9-31.5

Other services

33.133.727.029.5-3.6-10.9

Government

67.168.764.264.0-3.1-4.6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary


Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, 12 largest metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)
Area and IndustryMay
2019
Mar
2020
Apr
2020
May
2020(p)
May 2019 to May 2020(p)
Net changePercent change

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

Total nonfarm

2,843.42,855.42,547.52,582.7-260.7-9.2

Mining and logging

1.61.61.51.60.00.0

Construction

130.7128.9124.0125.8-4.9-3.7

Manufacturing

171.9170.5149.8151.4-20.5-11.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

598.2607.1575.0572.0-26.2-4.4

Information

99.6101.994.090.2-9.4-9.4

Financial activities

176.7179.0167.6173.2-3.5-2.0

Professional and business services

545.5543.1494.4497.4-48.1-8.8

Education and health services

368.9385.6353.3353.1-15.8-4.3

Leisure and hospitality

309.9293.8176.7203.2-106.7-34.4

Other services

103.8104.881.388.7-15.1-14.5

Government

336.6339.1329.9326.1-10.5-3.1

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH

Total nonfarm

2,820.92,758.32,319.72,364.1-456.8-16.2

Mining, logging, and construction

123.4114.078.392.9-30.5-24.7

Manufacturing

188.1185.5167.5172.4-15.7-8.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

423.6418.2339.2343.9-79.7-18.8

Information

80.782.981.980.2-0.5-0.6

Financial activities

185.2187.2184.1183.0-2.2-1.2

Professional and business services

515.8509.5477.6481.6-34.2-6.6

Education and health services

593.1595.0531.5533.4-59.7-10.1

Leisure and hospitality

285.3248.395.5113.9-171.4-60.1

Other services

104.398.760.465.4-38.9-37.3

Government

321.4319.0303.7297.4-24.0-7.5

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

Total nonfarm

4,781.24,661.64,127.34,204.5-576.7-12.1

Mining and logging

1.91.81.72.10.210.5

Construction

185.4164.2154.2171.3-14.1-7.6

Manufacturing

420.7412.0380.9390.0-30.7-7.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

943.1929.5852.1860.3-82.8-8.8

Information

78.279.176.975.4-2.8-3.6

Financial activities

316.5316.5310.5309.4-7.1-2.2

Professional and business services

833.9801.7749.2763.0-70.9-8.5

Education and health services

740.1751.3678.1683.0-57.1-7.7

Leisure and hospitality

503.6456.6238.6269.8-233.8-46.4

Other services

201.1197.9160.3163.1-38.0-18.9

Government

556.7551.0524.8517.1-39.6-7.1

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

Total nonfarm

3,767.83,816.63,463.43,541.0-226.8-6.0

Mining, logging, and construction

225.4232.9222.8224.0-1.4-0.6

Manufacturing

287.9288.1277.7278.2-9.7-3.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities

782.5798.6761.8763.0-19.5-2.5

Information

81.782.580.079.5-2.2-2.7

Financial activities

315.9326.6322.4324.99.02.8

Professional and business services

634.6651.6597.4605.7-28.9-4.6

Education and health services

463.0467.3408.2431.1-31.9-6.9

Leisure and hospitality

398.6385.3238.1281.8-116.8-29.3

Other services

128.6126.9111.2116.2-12.4-9.6

Government

449.6456.8443.8436.6-13.0-2.9

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

Total nonfarm

3,155.63,185.92,853.72,927.5-228.1-7.2

Mining and logging

80.875.366.760.3-20.5-25.4

Construction

236.5238.1212.9221.0-15.5-6.6

Manufacturing

236.3230.3218.7217.9-18.4-7.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

621.8632.9587.1601.1-20.7-3.3

Information

32.632.729.629.4-3.2-9.8

Financial activities

165.7167.3162.1164.5-1.2-0.7

Professional and business services

502.9512.6487.9489.2-13.7-2.7

Education and health services

404.8417.4370.0394.5-10.3-2.5

Leisure and hospitality

337.1331.3210.7250.5-86.6-25.7

Other services

117.2120.491.991.1-26.1-22.3

Government

419.9427.6416.1408.0-11.9-2.8

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

Total nonfarm

6,229.76,205.45,323.75,370.7-859.0-13.8

Mining and logging

2.42.32.32.40.00.0

Construction

255.4249.5227.7245.7-9.7-3.8

Manufacturing

499.1486.4434.6448.8-50.3-10.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,100.91,102.2957.7967.9-133.0-12.1

Information

231.9260.0205.2195.9-36.0-15.5

Financial activities

340.1346.9329.5329.7-10.4-3.1

Professional and business services

964.9957.6855.5862.2-102.7-10.6

Education and health services

1,074.01,091.5982.6990.7-83.3-7.8

Leisure and hospitality

780.0732.8420.1437.3-342.7-43.9

Other services

211.0195.5151.9150.0-61.0-28.9

Government

770.0780.7756.6740.1-29.9-3.9

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL

Total nonfarm

2,719.72,726.92,352.72,427.9-291.8-10.7

Mining and logging

0.70.80.80.80.114.3

Construction

141.2141.0131.6140.1-1.1-0.8

Manufacturing

91.490.379.783.0-8.4-9.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

608.2617.7551.6558.1-50.1-8.2

Information

51.551.048.047.8-3.7-7.2

Financial activities

188.2191.1189.1187.3-0.9-0.5

Professional and business services

448.4454.0399.4409.1-39.3-8.8

Education and health services

411.7412.9370.6378.3-33.4-8.1

Leisure and hospitality

337.1323.1173.9208.0-129.1-38.3

Other services

120.7120.595.6104.1-16.6-13.8

Government

320.6324.5312.4311.3-9.3-2.9

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

Total nonfarm

9,998.49,785.18,007.28,187.0-1,811.4-18.1

Mining, logging, and construction

421.5400.4250.3315.2-106.3-25.2

Manufacturing

361.3359.0292.2313.4-47.9-13.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,724.81,692.81,337.91,389.0-335.8-19.5

Information

296.0293.1278.1275.1-20.9-7.1

Financial activities

784.8763.6744.5743.2-41.6-5.3

Professional and business services

1,607.91,594.41,386.41,402.2-205.7-12.8

Education and health services

2,075.12,094.51,813.51,813.5-261.6-12.6

Leisure and hospitality

960.3839.5314.0371.2-589.1-61.3

Other services

428.8422.5293.3299.9-128.9-30.1

Government

1,337.91,325.31,297.01,264.3-73.6-5.5

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

Total nonfarm

2,985.72,959.02,517.12,569.4-416.3-13.9

Mining, logging, and construction

121.6112.877.893.1-28.5-23.4

Manufacturing

183.7182.3167.5172.3-11.4-6.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

524.5522.2452.6460.8-63.7-12.1

Information

48.949.447.045.8-3.1-6.3

Financial activities

217.3217.5209.5211.6-5.7-2.6

Professional and business services

472.4470.0433.6434.8-37.6-8.0

Education and health services

669.1679.7596.6601.8-67.3-10.1

Leisure and hospitality

284.6258.4114.0132.8-151.8-53.3

Other services

123.5120.680.181.8-41.7-33.8

Government

340.1346.1338.4334.6-5.5-1.6

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ

Total nonfarm

2,158.42,217.42,017.02,047.4-111.0-5.1

Mining and logging

3.53.63.63.70.25.7

Construction

133.8136.7134.0134.20.40.3

Manufacturing

132.2134.1126.3125.8-6.4-4.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

401.8418.4392.0399.4-2.4-0.6

Information

39.940.437.437.5-2.4-6.0

Financial activities

201.1202.5201.5202.00.90.4

Professional and business services

362.2367.7342.2337.9-24.3-6.7

Education and health services

335.2352.1321.7327.4-7.8-2.3

Leisure and hospitality

233.3235.9146.0170.8-62.5-26.8

Other services

70.971.061.167.2-3.7-5.2

Government

244.5255.0251.2241.5-3.0-1.2

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

Total nonfarm

2,476.92,467.12,100.52,128.4-348.5-14.1

Mining and logging

0.30.30.30.30.00.0

Construction

126.9123.291.5109.5-17.4-13.7

Manufacturing

144.0143.9121.9122.8-21.2-14.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

369.3365.9316.6315.6-53.7-14.5

Information

125.3129.6118.9117.9-7.4-5.9

Financial activities

145.7147.5143.6143.7-2.0-1.4

Professional and business services

496.4502.1468.6473.7-22.7-4.6

Education and health services

367.1371.4324.5329.7-37.4-10.2

Leisure and hospitality

285.6270.5135.5142.6-143.0-50.1

Other services

88.985.363.463.6-25.3-28.5

Government

327.4327.4315.7309.0-18.4-5.6

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

Total nonfarm

3,353.83,343.73,043.63,036.8-317.0-9.5

Mining, logging, and construction

165.4163.7156.5157.0-8.4-5.1

Manufacturing

56.957.252.954.1-2.8-4.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

405.0405.3361.9361.7-43.3-10.7

Information

76.277.675.573.3-2.9-3.8

Financial activities

160.4161.4156.9159.2-1.2-0.7

Professional and business services

777.3778.4761.3755.0-22.3-2.9

Education and health services

446.1449.3399.4403.6-42.5-9.5

Leisure and hospitality

343.8321.5180.8180.7-163.1-47.4

Other services

210.4211.1197.3196.4-14.0-6.7

Government

712.3718.2701.1695.8-16.5-2.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, July 01, 2020