Employment changes among large U.S. counties, June 2009–June 2010

From June 2009 to June 2010, among U.S. counties with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2009, Yolo, California, and Marion, Florida, posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 3.7 percent each over the year. Elkhart, Indiana, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment, with a gain of 9.3 percent.

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Within Yolo, California, the largest employment decline occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities, which lost 843 jobs over the year (−4.4 percent). In Marion, Florida, financial activities had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment, shedding 1,495 jobs (−27.1 percent).

Employment in Elkhart, Indiana, had declined by more than 10 percent from the third quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2009. Employment rebounded in December 2009, and strong job growth continued through the second quarter of 2010.

From June 2009 to June 2010, Kings, New York (3.6 percent), experienced the second largest employment increase, followed by Allen, Indiana, and Ottawa, Michigan (3.5 percent each), and Arlington, Virginia, Benton, Washington, and Macomb, Michigan (3.0 percent each).

The 326 U.S. counties with 75,000 or more employees in 2009 accounted for 70.7 percent of total U.S. employment. These 326 counties had a net job decline of 350,897 over the year, accounting for 126.9 percent of the overall U.S. employment decrease.

These employment data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; the data are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "County Employment and Wages: Second Quarter 2010" (HTML) (PDF) news release USDL-11-0014.