Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,970,500 in January 2016, up 16,400, or 0.6 percent, from one year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.9 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Houston metropolitan area has had over-the-year employment increases in each month since July 2010. (See chart 1 and table 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.)

Industry employment

Leisure and hospitality had the largest annual job gain among Houston’s supersectors, adding 21,200 jobs since January 2015. The 7.5-percent local rate of job growth in this supersector was more than double the national rate of 3.1 percent. (See table 1 and chart 2.) The local industry’s job gains were concentrated in food services and drinking places, which added 18,600 jobs during the period.

The education and health services supersector added 18,000 jobs, a 5.0-percent rise from January 2015; nationally, employment in this industry rose 3.0 percent. Local job gains were largest in hospitals.

The construction supersector in the Houston area gained 11,600 jobs over the year, with heavy and civil engineering construction adding 9,500 of these jobs. Houston’s total construction sector rose 5.6 percent compared to the national gain of 4.3 percent.

Government employment expanded by 6,700 jobs over the year, with local government accounting for nearly all of the increase, up 6,000. Employment gains in local government were led by educational services, which added 5,700 jobs. In the Houston area, total government employment increased 1.8 percent compared to a 0.3-percent gain nationally.

Trade, transportation, and utilities—the area’s largest supersector—added 4,100 jobs, up 0.7 percent from January 2015 to January 2016. The area’s retail trade industry gained 6,600 jobs, an increase of 2.2 percent; this local job gain was partially offset by declines in wholesale trade and transportation and utilities. Nationally, the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector expanded 1.7 percent.

Two other local supersectors had employment gains of at least 1,400 from January 2015: financial activities (3,000) and other services (1,400). The financial activities sector rose 2.0 percent locally and 1.8 percent nationally. The local 1.3-percent gain in other services compared to a national increase of 1.0 percent.

Manufacturing had the largest job loss among Houston supersectors between January 2015 and January 2016, declining 22,500. Locally, manufacturing employment fell 8.7 percent compared to a national increase of 0.4 percent.

Two other Houston area supersectors had job losses of more than 8,000 from the previous year—mining and logging (-18,100) and professional and business services (-8,200). Local mining and logging employment fell 16.4 percent from January 2015, compared to the national decrease of 15.5 percent. Houston’s professional and business services supersector declined 1.8 percent, in contrast to the national gain of 3.3 percent. In local professional and business services, the largest job loss was in architectural, engineering, and related services (-5,500).

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Houston was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in January 2016. All 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with 9 exceeding the national average of 1.9 percent. The fastest rates of job growth were in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, at 3.6 percent each. The slowest rates of job growth were in Houston (0.6 percent), Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (1.4 percent) and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (1.5 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

The New York-Newark-Jersey City area added the largest number of jobs, 186,700. Employment in both Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington also increased by over 100,000. Houston experienced the smallest employment gain over the year, adding 16,400 jobs, followed by Boston, up 37,200 jobs.

Professional and business services had the largest employment gains in 6 of the 12 metropolitan areas from January a year ago—Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services added the most jobs in three areas—Boston, Los Angeles, and New York.

Four areas experienced no annual job losses in any supersector—Atlanta, Miami, New York and Philadelphia. Manufacturing had the largest over-the-year losses in Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Metropolitan area employment data for February 2016 are scheduled to be released on Friday, March 25, 2016, 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 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 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 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 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 the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error are available for state CES data at the total nonfarm and supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available online at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties in Texas.

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 Houston metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Jan. 2015	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015	Jan. 2016(p)	Change from Jan. 2015 to Jan. 2016(p)
					Net Change	Percent Change
United States
Total nonfarm	138,511	144,122	144,116	141,155	2,644	1.9
Mining and logging	877	776	765	741	-136	-15.5
Construction	5,953	6,654	6,507	6,210	257	4.3
Manufacturing	12,203	12,317	12,323	12,247	44	0.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	26,544	27,596	27,867	27,000	456	1.7
Information	2,703	2,767	2,768	2,730	27	1.0
Financial activities	8,008	8,183	8,201	8,154	146	1.8
Professional and business services	19,033	20,081	20,079	19,669	636	3.3
Education and health services	21,601	22,569	22,559	22,257	656	3.0
Leisure and hospitality	14,234	15,034	15,000	14,675	441	3.1
Other services	5,532	5,634	5,641	5,588	56	1.0
Government	21,823	22,511	22,406	21,884	61	0.3
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,954.1	3,015.4	3,021.3	2,970.5	16.4	0.6
Mining and logging	110.5	95.1	94.3	92.4	-18.1	-16.4
Construction	208.8	225.8	224.4	220.4	11.6	5.6
Manufacturing	259.4	237.8	238.7	236.9	-22.5	-8.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	606.3	619.5	627.5	610.4	4.1	0.7
Information	32.0	31.5	31.5	31.2	-0.8	-2.5
Financial activities	149.1	153.3	152.1	152.1	3.0	2.0
Professional and business services	467.9	469.3	468.6	459.7	-8.2	-1.8
Education and health services	358.0	376.1	377.5	376.0	18.0	5.0
Leisure and hospitality	282.8	307.7	309.0	304.0	21.2	7.5
Other services	104.3	107.1	106.1	105.7	1.4	1.3
Government	375.0	392.2	391.6	381.7	6.7	1.8
(p) preliminary

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

Area and Industry	Jan. 2015	Nov. 2015	Dec. 2015	Jan. 2016(p)	Change from Jan. 2015 to Jan. 2016(p)
					Net Change	Percent Change
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,519.2	2,643.7	2,643.8	2,607.6	88.4	3.5
Mining and logging	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.5	0.1	7.1
Construction	102.9	111.0	111.7	110.5	7.6	7.4
Manufacturing	155.0	160.8	161.3	160.4	5.4	3.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	569.5	601.0	604.5	588.0	18.5	3.2
Information	86.0	88.0	87.4	86.6	0.6	0.7
Financial activities	159.6	164.5	163.4	162.8	3.2	2.0
Professional and business services	462.9	489.5	489.6	486.1	23.2	5.0
Education and health services	312.9	323.3	323.7	318.5	5.6	1.8
Leisure and hospitality	253.3	277.2	275.8	271.0	17.7	7.0
Other services	93.6	98.0	98.7	97.1	3.5	3.7
Government	322.1	328.9	326.2	325.1	3.0	0.9
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,579.2	2,684.7	2,681.1	2,616.4	37.2	1.4
Mining, logging, and construction	92.8	110.6	107.0	102.0	9.2	9.9
Manufacturing	191.1	191.2	191.1	189.2	-1.9	-1.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	415.9	425.2	428.6	416.4	0.5	0.1
Information	76.3	76.8	77.3	77.1	0.8	1.0
Financial activities	178.5	183.7	184.3	183.6	5.1	2.9
Professional and business services	439.2	461.6	458.3	445.7	6.5	1.5
Education and health services	540.8	565.6	566.9	557.7	16.9	3.1
Leisure and hospitality	239.0	251.5	248.6	237.0	-2.0	-0.8
Other services	98.0	101.4	103.0	100.7	2.7	2.8
Government	307.6	317.1	316.0	307.0	-0.6	-0.2
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,448.6	4,660.1	4,640.6	4,516.8	68.2	1.5
Mining and logging	1.3	1.6	1.4	1.2	-0.1	-7.7
Construction	141.9	173.7	165.7	150.1	8.2	5.8
Manufacturing	411.9	413.6	414.3	411.1	-0.8	-0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	910.6	951.9	958.1	922.8	12.2	1.3
Information	80.3	83.4	82.3	81.2	0.9	1.1
Financial activities	289.1	295.1	295.0	290.5	1.4	0.5
Professional and business services	778.6	814.0	802.8	776.5	-2.1	-0.3
Education and health services	688.3	716.4	711.3	705.8	17.5	2.5
Leisure and hospitality	418.2	451.9	452.2	437.7	19.5	4.7
Other services	191.0	196.3	195.2	192.2	1.2	0.6
Government	537.4	562.2	562.3	547.7	10.3	1.9
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,309.6	3,475.3	3,483.6	3,423.3	113.7	3.4
Mining, logging, and construction	197.0	201.7	200.8	196.6	-0.4	-0.2
Manufacturing	263.2	262.3	260.4	259.0	-4.2	-1.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	704.4	749.7	758.9	740.8	36.4	5.2
Information	79.5	80.9	80.6	79.8	0.3	0.4
Financial activities	269.9	281.4	283.0	282.9	13.0	4.8
Professional and business services	545.3	573.4	575.6	558.0	12.7	2.3
Education and health services	403.5	428.1	423.5	423.1	19.6	4.9
Leisure and hospitality	327.5	360.5	361.4	354.3	26.8	8.2
Other services	115.9	117.8	118.3	115.5	-0.4	-0.3
Government	403.4	419.5	421.1	413.3	9.9	2.5
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	2,954.1	3,015.4	3,021.3	2,970.5	16.4	0.6
Mining and logging	110.5	95.1	94.3	92.4	-18.1	-16.4
Construction	208.8	225.8	224.4	220.4	11.6	5.6
Manufacturing	259.4	237.8	238.7	236.9	-22.5	-8.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	606.3	619.5	627.5	610.4	4.1	0.7
Information	32.0	31.5	31.5	31.2	-0.8	-2.5
Financial activities	149.1	153.3	152.1	152.1	3.0	2.0
Professional and business services	467.9	469.3	468.6	459.7	-8.2	-1.8
Education and health services	358.0	376.1	377.5	376.0	18.0	5.0
Leisure and hospitality	282.8	307.7	309.0	304.0	21.2	7.5
Other services	104.3	107.1	106.1	105.7	1.4	1.3
Government	375.0	392.2	391.6	381.7	6.7	1.8
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	5,700.9	5,928.5	5,952.5	5,834.3	133.4	2.3
Mining and logging	4.9	4.6	4.3	4.2	-0.7	-14.3
Construction	205.7	223.8	223.7	222.4	16.7	8.1
Manufacturing	517.5	514.3	514.5	509.3	-8.2	-1.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,068.1	1,108.2	1,118.4	1,086.4	18.3	1.7
Information	218.8	231.3	233.1	223.7	4.9	2.2
Financial activities	324.7	333.6	335.8	331.0	6.3	1.9
Professional and business services	867.3	903.5	906.9	881.7	14.4	1.7
Education and health services	917.5	966.7	969.6	956.6	39.1	4.3
Leisure and hospitality	661.5	701.2	706.4	692.5	31.0	4.7
Other services	195.9	202.5	200.5	196.8	0.9	0.5
Government	719.0	738.8	739.3	729.7	10.7	1.5
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,472.0	2,564.1	2,572.7	2,543.3	71.3	2.9
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	105.2	118.1	119.1	116.2	11.0	10.5
Manufacturing	82.5	85.3	85.0	85.0	2.5	3.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	581.1	598.0	605.3	592.3	11.2	1.9
Information	47.6	48.7	48.5	48.0	0.4	0.8
Financial activities	171.5	178.0	177.6	177.2	5.7	3.3
Professional and business services	395.1	418.7	417.3	409.8	14.7	3.7
Education and health services	360.6	373.3	376.5	372.9	12.3	3.4
Leisure and hospitality	305.3	311.7	313.5	314.0	8.7	2.8
Other services	119.5	123.2	122.7	121.9	2.4	2.0
Government	303.0	308.5	306.6	305.4	2.4	0.8
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	9,072.8	9,522.4	9,537.1	9,259.5	186.7	2.1
Mining, logging, and construction	338.2	390.5	382.2	358.1	19.9	5.9
Manufacturing	363.7	370.7	370.8	367.7	4.0	1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,704.0	1,760.5	1,778.2	1,715.5	11.5	0.7
Information	280.9	285.3	289.1	283.1	2.2	0.8
Financial activities	750.4	770.3	772.2	761.0	10.6	1.4
Professional and business services	1,426.3	1,516.6	1,516.1	1,466.8	40.5	2.8
Education and health services	1,736.2	1,823.7	1,828.6	1,793.5	57.3	3.3
Leisure and hospitality	804.5	866.7	859.0	821.6	17.1	2.1
Other services	402.1	412.9	417.5	410.3	8.2	2.0
Government	1,266.5	1,325.2	1,323.4	1,281.9	15.4	1.2
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,754.5	2,875.4	2,879.2	2,812.7	58.2	2.1
Mining, logging, and construction	99.1	114.4	112.6	107.2	8.1	8.2
Manufacturing	180.4	181.2	182.0	181.1	0.7	0.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	511.1	531.6	539.6	517.8	6.7	1.3
Information	45.9	46.5	46.9	46.4	0.5	1.1
Financial activities	205.3	209.2	210.4	209.0	3.7	1.8
Professional and business services	435.4	460.2	459.3	451.3	15.9	3.7
Education and health services	593.1	619.4	616.8	607.5	14.4	2.4
Leisure and hospitality	235.1	249.7	248.5	239.4	4.3	1.8
Other services	115.4	118.3	118.7	116.8	1.4	1.2
Government	333.7	344.9	344.4	336.2	2.5	0.7
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	1,879.7	1,979.0	1,984.7	1,946.8	67.1	3.6
Mining and logging	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.3	-0.1	-2.9
Construction	94.8	102.5	101.2	100.8	6.0	6.3
Manufacturing	117.8	121.4	121.2	120.4	2.6	2.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	369.9	395.4	398.7	383.8	13.9	3.8
Information	35.4	37.6	38.3	38.1	2.7	7.6
Financial activities	163.1	169.6	171.8	171.7	8.6	5.3
Professional and business services	316.4	336.8	342.2	332.5	16.1	5.1
Education and health services	274.6	290.7	291.9	289.0	14.4	5.2
Leisure and hospitality	204.8	211.7	210.9	210.8	6.0	2.9
Other services	64.4	65.9	65.7	65.2	0.8	1.2
Government	235.1	244.1	239.5	231.2	-3.9	-1.7
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,196.2	2,304.1	2,313.1	2,275.0	78.8	3.6
Mining and logging	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9	-0.1	-10.0
Construction	102.9	114.4	114.7	113.4	10.5	10.2
Manufacturing	124.2	127.8	128.4	125.8	1.6	1.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	361.4	380.5	386.7	372.8	11.4	3.2
Information	81.3	86.5	86.4	85.2	3.9	4.8
Financial activities	127.3	129.5	129.8	128.9	1.6	1.3
Professional and business services	446.2	473.1	475.0	470.1	23.9	5.4
Education and health services	320.1	335.3	335.3	334.0	13.9	4.3
Leisure and hospitality	244.4	258.5	259.9	252.9	8.5	3.5
Other services	81.6	83.6	83.2	81.2	-0.4	-0.5
Government	305.8	313.9	312.7	309.8	4.0	1.3
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,100.9	3,219.5	3,222.2	3,171.5	70.6	2.3
Mining, logging, and construction	142.1	155.5	153.8	150.0	7.9	5.6
Manufacturing	51.5	54.1	53.5	51.9	0.4	0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	397.9	412.6	420.0	403.7	5.8	1.5
Information	77.7	76.3	75.6	74.9	-2.8	-3.6
Financial activities	152.1	154.6	155.2	154.6	2.5	1.6
Professional and business services	705.1	732.6	729.9	723.2	18.1	2.6
Education and health services	409.6	419.4	419.9	419.1	9.5	2.3
Leisure and hospitality	290.4	311.5	312.1	306.9	16.5	5.7
Other services	192.7	199.5	200.0	197.0	4.3	2.2
Government	681.8	703.4	702.2	690.2	8.4	1.2
(p) preliminary