Total nonfarm employment in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,022,700 in September 2017, up 35,000, or 1.8 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.2 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the Detroit metropolitan area has had over-the-year employment increases each month since June 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.)

The Detroit metropolitan area is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills division, which accounted for 62 percent of the metropolitan area's employment, added 21,100 jobs from September a year ago, a gain of 1.7 percent. The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia Metropolitan Division, the area’s other employment center, added 13,900 jobs over the 12-month period, a 1.9-percent rise.

Industry employment

Professional and business services, Detroit’s largest supersector, added 12,300 jobs from September 2016 to September 2017. The Detroit area’s 3.1-percent growth rate in professional and business services employment was higher than the nationwide increase of 2.6 percent. (See chart 2.) Local job gains were concentrated in the Warren division, up 11,100 from the previous September.

The mining, logging, and construction supersector added 6,600 jobs in the local area from September 2016 to September 2017. The 9.1-percent rate of job growth was the highest among the local area supersectors that posted annual employment gains since last September. The Warren and Detroit divisions had job gains of 4,300 and 2,300, respectively.

Leisure and hospitality had the third largest employment increase in the Detroit area, up 5,300 over the year. Both divisions added jobs at the same rate, 2.7 percent, but the Warren division added 3,200 jobs while Detroit division added 2,100. The 2.7-percent rate of local employment growth in leisure and hospitality was more than double the national advance of 1.2 percent.

Employment in education and health services rose by 3,600 in the Detroit area from September 2016. The local area’s 1.2-percent rate of job growth was below the national rate of 2.1 percent. The Detroit division added 3,100 jobs over the year, accounting for most of the local supersector’s job gains.

Government employment in the Detroit metropolitan area increased by 3,300 from September 2016 to September 2017. The area's 1.8-percent job growth rate exceeded the 0.2-percent gain nationally. Local government added 2,700 jobs over the year and represented most of the area’s government employment increase.

Financial activities added 2,900 jobs in the local area over of the year. Manufacturing added 1,700 local jobs from September a year ago. 

Metropolitan area employment data for October 2017 are scheduled to be released on Friday, November 17, 2017.

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 2012 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 sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

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 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 the total private employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm.  Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/benchmark2017.pdf

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on July 15, 2015. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, Mich. Metropolitan Division includes Wayne County in Michigan.

The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. Metropolitan Division includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties in Michigan.

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 from the BLS website 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.