Muncie, Midland, and Elkhart-Goshen have largest 12-month percentage increases in employment

Nonfarm payroll employment increased from September 2013 to September 2014 in 314 of the nation's 372 metropolitan areas, decreased in 53 areas, and was unchanged in 5 areas.

The largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Muncie, Indiana (+8.9 percent), followed by Midland, Texas (+6.4 percent), and Elkhart-Goshen, Indiana (+5.4 percent).

The largest over-the-year employment increases occurred in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania (where employment increased 130,500, a gain of 1.5 percent), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+119,400 or 4.3 percent), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California (+102,000 or 1.8 percent).

The largest over-the-year decrease in employment, in terms of both the change in the number of people employed and the percentage change, occurred in Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey (where employment decreased by 10,000, a change of −7.2 percent). Other large percentage decreases in employment occurred in Danville, Virginia (where employment declined by 1,000, a change of −2.5 percent), and Anniston-Oxford, Alabama (−900 or −2.0 percent). The next largest over-the-year decreases in employment were in Columbus, Ohio (−6,800, or −0.7 percent), and Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (−2,500, or −1.0 percent).

These metropolitan area data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Area) program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — September 2014" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-14-2006.