Total nonfarm employment for the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island Metropolitan Statistical Area rose by 156,500 or 1.8 percent from August 2013 to August 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Martin Kohli, the Bureau’s chief regional economist, noted that the area’s rate of growth matched the national figure of 1.8 percent. In New York City, employment increased by 102,400 or 2.6 percent from August a year ago. (See table 1 and chart 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 New York metropolitan area is made up of four metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. New York-White Plains-Wayne, with 62 percent of the area’s employment, gained 117,500 jobs since August 2013. Nassau-Suffolk and Newark-Union added 20,000 and 12,700 jobs, respectively. Edison-New Brunswick gained 6,300 jobs.

New York-White Plains-Wayne employment grew by 2.2 percent, the largest rate of growth among the metropolitan divisions. Nassau-Suffolk and Newark-Union followed, with employment growth of 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. In Edison, employment grew by 0.6 percent. (See chart 2.)

Industry employment

Employment in education and health services expanded by 63,600 in the New York metropolitan area from August 2013, the largest annual gain since the series began in 1990. Ambulatory health care services accounted for about one-third of the growth in the area. The increase included New York City’s addition of 9,000 jobs in home health care services and 8,000 jobs in colleges and universities. In the New York metropolitan area, education and health services employment grew 4.1 percent over the year, compared to the national growth rate of 1.8 percent. (See chart 3.)

The next largest job gain occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities. The supersector added 41,500 jobs, of which more than half were in retail trade. Additionally, transportation and warehousing employment increased by 14,500, a series high, with New York City and Nassau-Suffolk adding a combined total of more than 8,000 jobs from August 2013. The New York area’s 2.6-percent rate of job growth in trade, transportation, and utilities exceeded the 2.0-percent U.S. average.

Two other local supersectors gained at least 25,000 jobs since August 2013. The professional and business services supersector added 30,000 jobs. In addition to New York City’s gain of 11,100 jobs in professional and technical services, Bergen-Hudson-Passaic and Nassau-Suffolk added a combined total of almost 10,000 jobs in administrative and waste services. Leisure and hospitality supersector employment increased by 25,100—almost three quarters of that expansion was in accommodation and food services, with New York City adding the bulk of the jobs. The 2.1-percent rate of job growth in the metropolitan area in professional and business services compared to 3.5 percent for the nation.

Two supersectors lost more than 3,000 jobs locally over the year. Government employment dropped by 3,800, primarily in local government which lost 5,000 jobs. Information supersector employment declined by 3,600; most of the loss occurred within the telecommunications industry, with all four metropolitan divisions recording job losses.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

New York was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in August 2014. All of these areas experienced over-the-year job growth, with six matching or exceeding the national average of 1.8 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was registered in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 3.9 percent, more than double that for the nation. Detroit-Warren-Livonia had the smallest increase, up 0.1 percent. (See chart 4 and table 2.)

New York added the largest number of jobs, 156,500, since August 2013. Two other metropolitan areas gained more than 100,000 jobs—Houston (107,400) and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (101,500). Detroit recorded the smallest employment gain over the year, up 2,700, and was the only area of the 12 to add fewer than 10,000 jobs.

Professional and businesses services registered the largest over-the-year employment gains in 6 of the 12 metropolitan areas from August a year ago—Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont. Education and health services led employment gains in Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Houston, New York, and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.

Over the year, government recorded the largest loss of jobs in two areas—New York and Philadelphia. Manufacturing recorded the largest job losses in two areas—Chicago and Los Angeles. Dallas, Houston and Miami had no annual job losses in any supersector.

Metropolitan area employment data for September 2014 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 29, 2014.

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 that 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 the 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 that 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 a sample survey, 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 also are 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 specific 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 online at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Additional information

Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the CES 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.

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 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties in New York State; Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County, Pennsylvania.

The Edison-New Brunswick, N.J. Metropolitan Division consists of Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Somerset Counties in New Jersey.

The Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. Metropolitan Division consists of Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York.

The New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. Metropolitan Division consists of Bronx, Kings, New York, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, and Westchester Counties in New York State; and Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties in New Jersey.

The Newark-Union, N.J.-Pa. Metropolitan Division consists of Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Union Counties in New Jersey; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas, not seasonally adjusted
(numbers in thousands)

Area	Aug. 2013	June 2014	July 2014	Aug. 2014 (1)	Aug. 2013 to Aug. 2014 (1)
					Net change	Percent change
United States (1)
Total nonfarm	136,477	139,772	138,662	138,989	2,512	1.8
Mining and logging	887	916	931	936	49	5.5
Construction	6,114	6,207	6,315	6,352	238	3.9
Manufacturing	12,088	12,210	12,215	12,254	166	1.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	25,901	26,441	26,441	26,423	522	2.0
Information	2,683	2,674	2,688	2,683	0	0.0
Financial activities	7,950	7,999	8,028	8,022	72	0.9
Professional and business services	18,792	19,353	19,360	19,444	652	3.5
Education and health services	20,842	21,271	21,164	21,213	371	1.8
Leisure and hospitality	14,945	15,270	15,345	15,298	353	2.4
Other services	5,507	5,572	5,574	5,554	47	0.9
Government	20,768	21,859	20,601	20,810	42	0.2
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA
Total nonfarm	2,419.2	2,463.9	2,464.7	2,470.6	51.4	2.1
Mining and logging	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0	0.0
Construction	94.3	97.5	97.7	98.1	3.8	4.0
Manufacturing	149.3	153.2	153.7	154.2	4.9	3.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	538.2	548.6	551.0	549.5	11.3	2.1
Information	85.2	86.7	87.4	87.2	2.0	2.3
Financial activities	157.9	160.0	162.3	161.5	3.6	2.3
Professional and business services	439.8	453.6	458.2	457.4	17.6	4.0
Education and health services	294.5	292.2	291.8	295.8	1.3	0.4
Leisure and hospitality	252.9	263.7	264.4	261.4	8.5	3.4
Other services	94.2	92.3	92.2	92.6	-1.6	-1.7
Government	311.7	314.9	304.8	311.7	0.0	0.0
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,551.8	2,622.0	2,610.8	2,591.9	40.1	1.6
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	95.8	93.0	96.5	96.0	0.2	0.2
Manufacturing	194.2	195.5	195.2	195.4	1.2	0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	409.5	421.3	418.9	405.4	-4.1	-1.0
Information	75.3	78.6	79.4	79.8	4.5	6.0
Financial activities	175.2	174.2	176.1	176.2	1.0	0.6
Professional and business services	441.4	447.3	450.9	451.0	9.6	2.2
Education and health services	522.8	539.5	543.8	541.0	18.2	3.5
Leisure and hospitality	259.8	262.5	265.0	267.0	7.2	2.8
Other services	101.8	103.0	104.7	104.1	2.3	2.3
Government	275.4	306.5	279.7	275.4	0.0	0.0
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,472.3	4,527.3	4,505.7	4,510.6	38.3	0.9
Mining and logging	1.6	1.4	1.4	1.4	-0.2	-12.5
Construction	160.4	163.1	167.0	167.3	6.9	4.3
Manufacturing	411.2	405.9	407.8	408.9	-2.3	-0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	900.1	904.5	903.0	903.4	3.3	0.4
Information	80.7	80.6	80.9	80.6	-0.1	-0.1
Financial activities	291.9	290.7	291.7	290.6	-1.3	-0.4
Professional and business services	780.4	790.8	794.5	799.0	18.6	2.4
Education and health services	670.3	683.5	673.7	673.7	3.4	0.5
Leisure and hospitality	446.5	451.3	449.0	452.4	5.9	1.3
Other services	193.9	196.1	194.5	194.1	0.2	0.1
Government	535.3	559.4	542.2	539.2	3.9	0.7
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,107.5	3,216.6	3,202.8	3,209.0	101.5	3.3
Mining, logging, and construction	180.5	191.1	191.2	193.0	12.5	6.9
Manufacturing	258.6	257.9	258.6	258.7	0.1	0.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	643.2	663.7	664.3	665.2	22.0	3.4
Information	80.2	81.0	80.5	80.2	0.0	0.0
Financial activities	256.4	255.5	256.3	257.5	1.1	0.4
Professional and business services	489.7	522.3	525.4	529.5	39.8	8.1
Education and health services	384.2	392.4	389.9	390.7	6.5	1.7
Leisure and hospitality	323.1	338.7	337.1	333.2	10.1	3.1
Other services	112.6	114.4	115.1	114.4	1.8	1.6
Government	379.0	399.6	384.4	386.6	7.6	2.0
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
Total nonfarm	1,867.8	1,896.9	1,865.1	1,870.5	2.7	0.1
Mining, logging, and construction	62.4	62.9	64.5	65.8	3.4	5.4
Manufacturing	232.5	238.4	230.8	237.0	4.5	1.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	350.5	355.9	354.2	353.1	2.6	0.7
Information	27.4	27.4	27.4	27.3	-0.1	-0.4
Financial activities	104.5	98.3	98.1	97.8	-6.7	-6.4
Professional and business services	360.2	365.3	359.3	366.2	6.0	1.7
Education and health services	294.6	298.5	297.4	293.7	-0.9	-0.3
Leisure & hospitality	185.2	186.2	185.7	183.2	-2.0	-1.1
Other services	78.3	77.0	76.5	76.3	-2.0	-2.6
Government	172.2	187.0	171.2	170.1	-2.1	-1.2
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Total nonfarm	2,789.0	2,895.3	2,892.7	2,896.4	107.4	3.9
Mining and logging	108.9	114.6	116.4	117.8	8.9	8.2
Construction	190.5	196.6	195.7	201.4	10.9	5.7
Manufacturing	252.8	260.5	261.5	262.2	9.4	3.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	570.8	583.1	585.4	584.8	14.0	2.5
Information	32.8	33.2	33.3	33.3	0.5	1.5
Financial activities	144.4	145.5	146.5	147.1	2.7	1.9
Professional and business services	431.6	443.1	446.1	447.6	16.0	3.7
Education and health services	335.4	347.6	348.5	354.4	19.0	5.7
Leisure and hospitality	276.9	290.0	291.3	287.6	10.7	3.9
Other services	98.9	102.6	103.5	102.4	3.5	3.5
Government	346.0	378.5	364.5	357.8	11.8	3.4
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
Total nonfarm	5,551.5	5,687.8	5,622.8	5,638.5	87.0	1.6
Mining and logging	5.2	5.4	5.5	5.6	0.4	7.7
Construction	198.4	210.0	207.8	209.5	11.1	5.6
Manufacturing	525.9	510.3	511.0	511.3	-14.6	-2.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,031.9	1,043.0	1,041.7	1,041.4	9.5	0.9
Information	224.6	231.6	229.0	230.0	5.4	2.4
Financial activities	326.0	322.5	321.2	321.8	-4.2	-1.3
Professional and business services	859.0	884.1	887.9	894.8	35.8	4.2
Education and health services	890.6	922.0	909.8	916.8	26.2	2.9
Leisure and hospitality	636.2	649.2	650.3	649.4	13.2	2.1
Other services	191.2	197.9	196.5	197.3	6.1	3.2
Government	662.5	711.8	662.1	660.6	-1.9	-0.3
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,336.3	2,391.2	2,379.5	2,401.9	65.6	2.8
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	96.0	101.5	101.0	102.8	6.8	7.1
Manufacturing	78.0	79.3	78.4	78.6	0.6	0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	545.6	563.2	563.9	564.0	18.4	3.4
Information	46.2	46.6	46.5	46.7	0.5	1.1
Financial activities	165.5	168.9	169.3	168.6	3.1	1.9
Professional and business services	371.8	384.6	382.9	384.2	12.4	3.3
Education and health services	343.8	351.3	349.3	351.0	7.2	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	279.8	297.4	291.7	288.8	9.0	3.2
Other services	110.2	115.5	115.6	115.1	4.9	4.4
Government	298.8	282.3	280.3	301.5	2.7	0.9
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	8,679.7	8,918.7	8,873.8	8,836.2	156.5	1.8
Mining, logging, and construction	334.7	330.9	334.8	334.3	-0.4	-0.1
Manufacturing	357.2	358.5	354.3	356.1	-1.1	-0.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,592.5	1,647.2	1,632.9	1,634.0	41.5	2.6
Information	280.0	272.9	275.4	276.4	-3.6	-1.3
Financial activities	747.3	742.1	747.8	745.9	-1.4	-0.2
Professional and business services	1,405.1	1,425.0	1,430.2	1,435.1	30.0	2.1
Education and health services	1,568.8	1,656.8	1,636.7	1,632.4	63.6	4.1
Leisure and hospitality	820.1	849.6	854.6	845.2	25.1	3.1
Other services	383.0	392.1	390.7	389.6	6.6	1.7
Government	1,191.0	1,243.6	1,216.4	1,187.2	-3.8	-0.3
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,726.4	2,798.1	2,763.9	2,751.1	24.7	0.9
Mining, logging, and construction	106.8	110.5	115.3	114.3	7.5	7.0
Manufacturing	180.6	179.7	179.8	178.9	-1.7	-0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	505.6	515.0	512.5	512.5	6.9	1.4
Information	47.6	46.4	46.2	46.1	-1.5	-3.2
Financial activities	204.8	205.2	206.4	206.5	1.7	0.8
Professional and business services	438.4	446.2	447.9	444.1	5.7	1.3
Education and health services	556.4	574.9	571.2	568.4	12.0	2.2
Leisure and hospitality	252.4	259.8	256.3	254.0	1.6	0.6
Other services	122.0	123.1	120.7	120.4	-1.6	-1.3
Government	311.8	337.3	307.6	305.9	-5.9	-1.9
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Total nonfarm	2,112.3	2,166.5	2,160.7	2,170.1	57.8	2.7
Mining and logging	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.2	-0.1	-7.7
Construction	97.6	100.2	103.1	106.1	8.5	8.7
Manufacturing	117.0	117.7	118.5	118.0	1.0	0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	345.6	350.7	352.2	353.7	8.1	2.3
Information	74.2	76.2	76.9	76.8	2.6	3.5
Financial activities	126.8	127.0	127.3	127.2	0.4	0.3
Professional and business services	423.2	433.3	436.3	437.2	14.0	3.3
Education and health services	312.7	324.0	321.9	322.0	9.3	3.0
Leisure and hospitality	245.4	252.2	251.7	255.0	9.6	3.9
Other services	80.3	80.3	80.3	81.1	0.8	1.0
Government	288.2	303.7	291.3	291.8	3.6	1.2
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,073.9	3,121.4	3,108.0	3,084.2	10.3	0.3
Mining, logging, and construction	150.8	150.7	150.5	151.7	0.9	0.6
Manufacturing	48.4	46.0	45.8	46.4	-2.0	-4.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	389.3	396.5	397.5	395.1	5.8	1.5
Information	77.6	74.1	74.0	73.6	-4.0	-5.2
Financial activities	152.1	155.1	156.8	156.5	4.4	2.9
Professional and business services	713.3	712.8	713.3	707.9	-5.4	-0.8
Education and health services	385.9	391.8	390.6	387.0	1.1	0.3
Leisure and hospitality	302.7	314.1	312.9	310.7	8.0	2.6
Other services	190.2	192.8	193.6	192.9	2.7	1.4
Government	663.6	687.5	673.0	662.4	-1.2	-0.2
Footnotes (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary; U.S. data are preliminary for two months.
NOTE: Data are counts of jobs by place of work. Estimates are currently projected from March 2010 benchmark levels. Estimates subsequent to the current benchmark month are provisional and will be revised when new information becomes available.