Total nonfarm employment for the Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, metropolitan area increased by 81,100 over the year in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that the local rate of job gain, 2.9 percent, compared to the 2.1-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Boston metropolitan area, July 2020–July 2023

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Jul 2020	-329.2
Aug 2020	-283.1
Sep 2020	-254.1
Oct 2020	-232.2
Nov 2020	-230.7
Dec 2020	-240.0
Jan 2021	-230.5
Feb 2021	-226.0
Mar 2021	-185.2
Apr 2021	305.0
May 2021	281.1
Jun 2021	226.3
Jul 2021	190.2
Aug 2021	150.7
Sep 2021	122.1
Oct 2021	123.2
Nov 2021	124.1
Dec 2021	130.3
Jan 2022	128.2
Feb 2022	133.6
Mar 2022	126.6
Apr 2022	117.4
May 2022	108.7
Jun 2022	108.7
Jul 2022	97.0
Aug 2022	91.3
Sep 2022	90.1
Oct 2022	74.9
Nov 2022	72.3
Dec 2022	64.6
Jan 2023	78.8
Feb 2023	69.3
Mar 2023	77.8
Apr 2023	74.8
May 2023	80.1
Jun 2023	79.8
Jul 2023	81.1

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, is made up of 10 metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, division, with 69 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment, gained 66,600 jobs over the year. Aside from the Boston division, Framingham, MA, and Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH, contributed the largest employment to the greater metropolitan area, (5.9 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.) Nashua, NH-MA, and Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA, were the next largest divisions with 4.6 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. The remaining five divisions (Lawrence-Methuen Town-Salem, MA-NH, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA, Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury Town, MA-NH, Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA, and Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA) each accounted for less than 3.0 percent of the jobs in the metropolitan area.

Education and health services, the largest supersector in the Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, metropolitan area, added 25,400 jobs, with five divisions recording increases. (See chart 2.) The 4.3-percent local job growth in the metropolitan area compared to the 4.1-percent gain on a national level. The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, division gained 18,200 jobs in education and health services, with 12,700 of those jobs in the health care and social assistance sector.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Boston metropolitan area, July 2023

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Education and health services*	25.4
Professional and business services*	20.4
Leisure and hospitality*	13.5
Mining, logging, and construction	5.7
Financial activities	5.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	4.4
Information	2.0
Other services	0.2
Manufacturing	-1.0
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The professional and business services sector added 20,400 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area, a 3.7-percent gain compared to the 1.6-percent gain for the nation. Gains were concentrated in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, division, which accounted for 83 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment gain in this supersector, including 13,500 jobs in professional, scientific, and technical services.

Job gains in the metropolitan area were also recorded in leisure and hospitality (+13,500), including a gain of 10,600 jobs in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA, division’s accommodation and food services sector. The metropolitan area had a 5.0-percent rise compared to a national increase of 3.9 percent in the leisure and hospitality supersector.

Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in July 2023. All 12 areas gained jobs over the year. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, had the largest increase (+227,000), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (+178,600), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (+152,600). Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, had the smallest increase (+48,800), closely followed by Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (+52,300), and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (+52,800), among the largest areas. (See table 2 and chart 3.)

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, had a 4.4-percent rate of job gain. The rates of job gain in the remaining 11 areas ranged from 3.1 percent in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, to 1.4 percent in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI.

  

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Chart 3. Over-the-year net change in total nonfarm employment for the 12 largest metropolitan areas, July 2023 (in thousands)

Area	Net change (in thousands)
New York*	227.0
Dallas*	178.6
Los Angeles*	152.6
Houston*	96.8
Philadelphia*	94.0
Boston*	81.1
Miami*	77.1
Chicago*	64.5
San Francisco*	62.9
Phoenix*	52.8
Atlanta*	52.3
Washington*	48.8
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for August 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary.

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 2022 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 estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to compensate for smaller sample sizes.

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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available in the CES State and Area benchmark article.

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 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 totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Areas in the six New England states are defined as Metropolitan New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs) and Divisions, while areas in other states are county-based and identified as Metropolitan Statistical 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; and Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA.

• The Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division includes Abington town, Acton town, Andover town, Arlington town, Bedford town, Belmont town, Berlin town, Bolton town, Boston city, Boxborough town, Boxford town, Braintree Town city, Brookline town, Burlington town, Cambridge city, Canton town, Carlisle town, Carver town, Chelsea city, Cohasset town, Concord town, Dedham town, Dover town, Duxbury town, Essex town, Everett city, Foxborough town, Franklin Town city, Gloucester city, Halifax town, Hamilton town, Hanover town, Hingham town, Holbrook town, Hull town, Ipswich town, Kingston town, Lexington town, Lincoln town, Lynnfield town, Malden city, Manchester-by-the-Sea town, Mansfield town, Marshfield town, Maynard town, Medfield town, Medford city, Medway town, Melrose city, Middleton town, Millis town, Milton town, Needham town, Newbury town, Newton city, Norfolk town, North Reading town, Norwell town, Norwood town, Pembroke town, Plymouth town, Plympton town, Quincy city, Randolph town, Reading town, Revere city, Rockland town, Rockport town, Rowley town, Scituate town, Sharon town, Sherborn town, Somerville city, Stoneham town, Stoughton town, Stow town, Topsfield town, Wakefield town, Walpole town, Waltham city, Watertown Town city, Wayland town, Wellesley town, Wenham town, Weston town, Westwood town, Weymouth Town city, Wilmington town, Winchester town, Winthrop Town city, Woburn city, and Wrentham town in Massachusetts.
• The Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, MA NECTA Division includes Avon town, Bridgewater town, Brockton city, East Bridgewater town, Easton town, Hanson town, West Bridgewater town, and Whitman town in Massachusetts.
• The Framingham, MA NECTA Division includes Ashland town, Framingham town, Holliston town, Hopedale town, Hopkinton town, Hudson town, Marlborough city, Mendon town, Milford town, Natick town, Southborough town, and Sudbury town in Massachusetts.
• The Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury town, MA-NH NECTA Division includes Amesbury Town city, Georgetown town, Groveland town, Haverhill city, Merrimac town, Newburyport city, Salisbury town, and West Newbury town in Massachusetts and Atkinson town, Danville town, East Kingston town, Fremont town, Hampstead town, Hampton Falls town, Kensington town, Kingston town, Newton town, Plaistow town, Sandown town, Seabrook town, and South Hampton town in New Hampshire.
• The Lawrence-Methuen Town-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Division includes Lawrence city, Methuen Town city, and North Andover town in Massachusetts and Salem town in New Hampshire.
• The Lowell- Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH NECTA Division includes Ashby town, Ayer town, Billerica town, Chelmsford town, Dracut town, Groton town, Harvard town, Littleton town, Lowell city, Shirley town, Tewksbury town, Townsend town, Tyngsborough town, and Westford town in Massachusetts and Pelham town in New Hampshire.
• The Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, MA NECTA Division includes Lynn city, Marblehead town, Nahant town, Saugus town, and Swampscott town in Massachusetts.
• The Nashua, NH-MA NECTA Division includes Amherst town, Brookline town, Chester town, Derry town, Greenfield town, Greenville town, Hollis town, Hudson town, Litchfield town, Londonderry town, Lyndeborough town, Mason town, Merrimack town, Milford town, Mont Vernon town, Nashua city, Temple town, Wilton town, and Windham town in New Hampshire and Dunstable town and Pepperell town in Massachusetts.
• The Peabody-Salem-Beverly, MA NECTA Division includes Beverly city, Danvers town, Peabody city, and Salem city in Massachusetts.
• The Taunton-Middleborough-Norton, MA NECTA Division includes Berkley town, Dighton town, Freetown town, Lakeville town, Middleborough town, Norton town, Raynham town, Rochester town, and Taunton city in Massachusetts.

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.