Total nonfarm employment for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 3,206,000 in October 2015, up 67,100, or 2.1 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.9 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the Washington area’s October increase was its 20^th consecutive over-the-year employment gain. (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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area is made up of two metropolitan divisions¾separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division, with 81 percent of the area’s employment, gained 50,800 jobs over the year, representing 76 percent of the employment gain. The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, Md. Metropolitan Division, which represented the remaining 19 percent of area employment, added 16,300 jobs since October 2014.

Industry employment

In the greater Washington metropolitan area, professional and business services recorded the largest employment gain from October 2014 to October 2015, adding 25,100 jobs. The Washington area’s 3.5-percent growth in professional and business services employment was similar to the nationwide increase of 3.3 percent. All of the local job gains in this industry were centered in the Washington division. (See chart 2.)

One other supersector in Washington added more than 10,000 jobs since last October—education and health services (12,300). The 3.0-percent local rate of employment growth in this supersector was similar to the 2.8-percent national growth rate.

Four supersectors gained between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs: government (9,600); trade, transportation, and utilities (7,700); leisure and hospitality (5,400); and mining, logging, and construction (5,200). Local employment growth in government (1.4 percent) was nearly triple the national growth rate, while growth for trade, transportation, and utilities matched the national average (1.9 percent). The 1.8-percent growth rate for leisure and hospitality in the Washington area lagged the 3.0-percent U.S. average.

Twelve largest metropolitan areas

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in October 2015. All 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with 7 areas exceeding the U.S. average of 1.9 percent. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell had the fastest rate of job growth, 3.5 percent, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (3.4 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (3.0 percent). The slowest rates of job growth were in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland, and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington at 1.1 percent each. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York-Newark-Jersey City added the largest number of jobs, 157,100, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (126,300) and Dallas (98,400). Philadelphia recorded the smallest employment gain (31,600), followed by Houston (33,100).

Professional and business services had the largest over-the-year employment gains in 7 of the 12 metropolitan areas—Atlanta, Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Chicago, Dallas, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, San Francisco, and Washington. Education and health services added the most jobs in three areas—Los Angeles, New York, and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale.

Manufacturing recorded the largest job losses in Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia. Four areas—Atlanta, New York, Phoenix, and Washington—recorded no over-the-year job losses greater than 1,000 jobs in any supersector.

Metropolitan area employment data for November 2015 are scheduled to be released on Friday, December 18, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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 2007 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 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 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, dated December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.

• The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. Metropolitan Division includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.
• The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, Md. Metropolitan Division includes Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.

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.