Midwest Information Office

For release: Thursday, January 7, 2010
BLSInfoChicago@bls.gov
General Information: (312) 353-1880
Media Contact: Paul LaPorte (312) 353-1138

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CHICAGO METROPOLITAN AREA JOB COUNT, NOVEMBER 2009

Rate of Job Loss Faster than that for the Nation

 

 

Total nonfarm employment for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 4,327,300 in November 2009. This was 186,600 below its year-ago level, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that the Chicago area job count fell by 4.1 percent over the past 12 months compared with the national rate of decline of 3.4 percent for the same period. (See charts 1 and 2 and tables 1 and 2. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

Chart 1. Total nonfarm employment, over-the-year percent change in the United States and the Chicago metropolitan area, November 2003-2009

 

 

 

The Chicago metropolitan area is made up of three metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. Nearly 9 of every 10 job losses from November 2008 to November 2009 occurred in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Division (-167,400), which accounted for 85 percent of the area’s workforce. (See table 2.) The two metropolitan divisions of Lake County-Kenosha County and Gary represented the remaining 15 percent of the area’s overall employment and experienced job losses of 12,300 and 6,900, respectively, over the year.

Industry employment

The largest employment declines in the Chicago metropolitan area were in trade, transportation, and utilities (-38,000) and manufacturing (-37,700). The Chicago area’s 4.1-percent rate of job loss in trade, transportation, and utilities compared to a 3.8-percent drop nationally. Locally, this industry supersector has recorded over-the-year job declines since May 2008. In manufacturing, employment fell 8.2 percent in the Chicago area; even so, this was below the 10.7-percent decline nationwide. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Locally, manufacturing's over-the-year job losses have exceeded 30,000 for nine consecutive months.

 

Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in employment by selected industry supersector, United States and the Chicago metropolitan area, November 2009

 

 

Professional and business services, the second largest supersector in Chicago, dropped 32,400 jobs from November a year ago, and construction lost 29,200. The percentage declines in employment in these two supersectors were above the national rates of decline for these industries. Over-the-year job losses in professional and business services in the Chicago area have exceeded 30,000 for 10 consecutive months. In construction, area job losses have exceeded 25,000 for eight consecutive months.

Local employment declined by 13,000 or more from the previous November in two other supersectors, financial activities and leisure and hospitality. The local rates of job loss in these industries, at 6.1 and 3.3 percent, exceeded their respective rates of decline nationwide of 4.3 and 1.6 percent. Locally, financial activities’ over-the-year job losses have exceeded 10,000 for nearly two years, while leisure and hospitality’s losses have surpassed 10,000 for 10 consecutive months.

Education and health services was the only supersector to add jobs in the Chicago area from November 2008 to November 2009 (+1,100 or 0.2 percent). The rate of growth in this industry had slowed considerably from the previous November when jobs were expanding at a 2.4-percent pace. Nationwide, education and health services was also the only supersector to add jobs over the year, though it grew more strongly, expanding by 2.1 percent. 

Twelve largest metropolitan areas 

The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in November 2009. All of these areas lost jobs over the year with rates of decline ranging from 6.8 to 0.5 percent. (See chart 3 and table 3.) Nationally, employment was down 3.4 percent from November 2008 to November 2009.
 
Five of these areas—Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-6.8 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta (-4.9 percent), San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (-4.1 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (-4.1 percent), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (-3.5 percent)—recorded faster-than-average employment declines. A sixth area, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, experienced a percentage loss in jobs equaling the U.S. average.  

Six metropolitan areas had a percentage loss in jobs less than the national rate of decline. Four of these experienced declines in the 3.0- to 2.0-percent range—Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy. Percentage losses were less than 2.0 percent in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and less than 1.0 percent in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria.

Five metropolitan areas experienced employment declines of over 100,000 from November a year ago—Los Angeles (-194,900), Chicago (-186,600), New York (-186,100), Detroit (-128,600), and Atlanta (-117,100). Washington had the smallest decline, down 15,300 over the year.

Employment declines were largest in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector in 6 of the 12 areas. Conversely, job gains in education and health services were the strongest in eight areas. Three metropolitan areas failed to add at least 1,000 jobs in any industry supersector—Detroit, Miami, and San Francisco.

 

 

Chart 3. Over-the year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest areas, November 2009

 

 

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area, one of the 12 largest metropolitan areas. The rankings were based on population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2007. The CES program is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor.

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 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 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 standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on November 20, 2008. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois.

The Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Lake County in Illinois and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

The Gary, Ind. Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana.

 

Additional information

For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office at (312) 353-1880 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.

 

 

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Last Modified Date: January 7, 2010