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Employment in 10 largest counties, December 2016

June 12, 2017

In December 2016, there were 4.4 million people employed in Los Angeles County, California, making it the largest U.S. county, in terms of employment. The three industry sectors with the most employment—trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; and professional and business services—accounted for 50 percent of employment in Los Angeles County.

 

Employment in the United States and the 10 largest U.S. counties, by industry, December 2016
Industry United States Los Angeles, CA Cook, IL New York, NY Harris, TX Maricopa, AZ Dallas, TX Orange, CA San Diego, CA King, WA Miami-Dade, FL

Total

143,749,900 4,415,700 2,590,200 2,471,600 2,272,000 1,926,900 1,688,400 1,588,800 1,427,500 1,340,400 1,132,900

Trade, transportation, and utilities

27,968,100 844,400 491,900 265,900 477,200 386,800 355,800 265,600 229,000 261,700 289,300

Education and health services

21,994,400 758,700 441,100 346,800 292,300 289,800 197,500 204,600 195,100 169,700 176,000

Government

21,868,400 577,600 301,300 269,200 278,400 213,400 174,000 146,600 233,500 168,900 139,800

Professional and business services

20,259,200 605,500 473,400 564,900 384,100 331,700 342,100 304,700 232,900 220,500 158,100

Leisure and hospitality

15,365,300 512,700 273,500 303,800 226,800 207,900 160,300 210,900 190,200 134,500 141,000

Manufacturing

12,298,600 350,900 185,500 26,300 166,300 115,700 110,000 157,100 106,500 102,000 40,500

Financial activities

8,034,000 219,900 193,200 371,500 124,500 173,200 161,100 118,100 72,800 67,900 75,300

Construction

6,677,400 133,200 71,500 40,200 155,900 103,100 86,300 96,500 77,100 68,200 44,600

Other services

4,387,500 148,000 96,300 103,300 64,800 49,600 42,700 46,500 50,500 44,400 40,100

Information

2,809,000 225,900 55,700 162,900 27,300 34,400 48,900 25,800 23,500 99,800 18,100

Natural resources and mining

1,741,700 8,700 1,000 200 72,900 8,300 8,600 2,700 7,900 2,900 9,000

Trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; and professional and business services were also the top three employers in 6 other counties that are among the nation's 10 largest: Cook, Illinois; Harris, Texas; Maricopa, Arizona; Dallas, Texas; King, Washington; and Miami-Dade, Florida.  

In New York County, New York, (also known as Manhattan), the industries with the most employment were professional and business services, financial activities, and education and health services.

Professional and business services; trade, transportation, and utilities; and leisure and hospitality were the largest industries in Orange County, California.

In San Diego County, California, government (federal, state, and local); professional and business services; and trade, transportation, and utilities were the largest industries.

In December 2016, national employment was 143.7 million. Over the year, employment increased 1.2 percent, or 1.8 million. Among the 10 largest counties, 9 had over-the-year percentage increases in employment in December 2016. King, Washington, had the largest gain (3.3 percent). Within King, trade, transportation, and utilities had the largest over-the-year employment level increase, with a gain of 11,720 jobs, or 4.7 percent. Harris, Texas, had the only percentage decrease in employment among the 10 largest counties (−1.3 percent). Within Harris, manufacturing had the largest over-the-year employment level decrease, with a loss of 14,974 jobs, or −8.3 percent.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. To learn more, see "County Employment and Wages: Fourth Quarter 2016" (HTML) (PDF). Data are preliminary.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment in 10 largest counties, December 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/employment-in-10-largest-counties-december-2016.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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