Southwest Information Office

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:                                                                      FOR RELEASE:
Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist                                                              September 1, 2009    
(972) 850-4800                                                  
http://www.bls.gov/ro6/          

 
                               DALLAS-FORT WORTH-AREA EMPLOYMENT, JULY 2009

     Total nonfarm employment in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 
2,935,000 in July 2009, down 45,400 or 1.5 percent from July 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. 
Department of Labor reported today.  During the same period, the national job count decreased 4.2 percent.  
Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that this was the seventh consecutive month of over-the-year job 
losses following nearly five years of expansion in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  (See chart A and table 1; 
Technical Note at end of release contains metropolitan area definitions.  All data in this release are not 
seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.) 


          Chart A.  Total nonfarm employment, over-the-year net change in the Dallas metropolitan
          area and its divisions, July 2001-July 2009
          


     The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area is comprised of two metropolitan divisions 
-- separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area.  In the Dallas-Plano-Irving 
Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 71 percent of the area’s workforce, employment fell by 33,300 from 
July a year ago, a decline of 1.6 percent.  The Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 
29 percent of the area workforce, lost 12,100 jobs during the same period, as employment decreased 1.4 percent 
over the year.

Industry employment
     In the greater Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, 8 of 10 industry supersectors experienced 
over-the-year declines.  The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector reported the largest employment 
decrease, down 23,000 from July 2008, a decline of 3.7 percent.  Losses were experienced in both metropolitan 
divisions, but the rate of decline was much sharper in Dallas-Plano-Irving than in Fort Worth-Arlington (down 
4.7 and 1.7 percent, respectively).  Nationwide, jobs in trade, transportation, and utilities were down 4.7 
percent.  (See table 1 and chart B.)

     Locally, professional and business services employment was down 20,000 over the year, a decline of 4.4 
percent, with more than 90 percent of the loss occurring in the Dallas-Plano-Irving division.  Nationwide, 
employment in this industry declined 6.4 percent.

     Manufacturing was the only other local supersector to lose more than 10,000 jobs during the period.  From 
July 2008 to July 2009, manufacturing employment in the greater metropolitan area fell 13,900, a decline of 4.8 
percent.  Specifically, manufacturing jobs were down 7,400 in Dallas-Plano-Irving and 6,500 in Fort Worth-
Arlington, though the rate of decline was much steeper in Fort Worth  
(-6.7 percent) than in Dallas (-3.9 percent).  Nationwide, manufacturing employment dropped 12.1 percent.


          Chart B.  Over-the-year percent change in employment by industry supersector, 
          United States and the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area, July 2009
          




     Other local supersectors recording job losses on an annual basis included: mining, logging, and 
construction (-7,200); leisure and hospitality (-5,200); financial activities (-4,900); information (-4,600); 
and other services (-1,100).

     Over-the-year job gains were limited to two supersectors in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan 
area.  Education and health services experienced the largest increase adding 26,400 jobs over the year, a gain 
of 8.0 percent, well above the national growth rate of 2.1 percent.

     Government employment rose by 8,100 in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area from July a year 
ago, with most of the growth, 7,000, occurring in the Dallas-Plano-Irving division.  Public sector employment 
rose 2.2 percent in the greater metropolitan area, while it was nearly unchanged, up 0.2 percent, nationwide.


Employment in the 12 largest areas
     Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in July 2009.  
All of these areas experienced over-the-year job losses ranging from 7.5 to 1.0 percent.  (See chart C and 
table 2.)  Nationally, employment fell 4.2 percent from July 2008 to July 2009.

     Five of the 12 areas -- Detroit-Warren-Livonia (-7.5 percent), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta and San 
Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (-4.9 percent each), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet  
(-4.5 percent), and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana (-4.3 percent) -- experienced employment losses steeper 
than the national rate of decline.


          Chart C.  Over-the-year percent change in employment, United States and 12 largest 
          metropolitan areas, July 2009
          


     Seven metropolitan areas had smaller-than-average percentage losses.  Four of these experienced declines 
in the 3.6- to 2.6-percent range -- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, 
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy.  Percentage losses in the remaining three areas of New 
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (-1.8 percent), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (-1.5 percent), and 
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (-1.0 percent) were considerably smaller.

     Two metropolitan areas experienced employment declines of over 200,000 from July a year ago -- Los Angeles 
(-240,100) and Chicago (-206,200).  Three additional areas (New York, Detroit, and Atlanta) had job losses 
exceeding 100,000.  Employment declines were heaviest in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector 
in 6 of the 12 largest areas.  Conversely, education and health services was the bright spot as no metropolitan 
area reported a decline and six areas added at least 5,000 jobs over the year.



Additional information
     For personal assistance or further information on the Current Employment Statistics program, as well as 
other Bureau programs, contact the Southwest Information Office at 972-850-4800 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 
and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals 
upon request.  Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.




                                               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 in which State employment security agencies 
prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.

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

     The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Collin, Dallas, Delta,
     Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.
     
     The Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, 
     Kaufman, and Rockwall Counties in Texas.

     The Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division (MD) includes Johnson, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise Counties 
     in Texas.
     
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