Total nonfarm employment for the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 650,100 in June 2014, up 13,200 or 2.1 percent over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count rose 1.9 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the June 2014 employment increase was the 49th consecutive over-the-year rise in the Richmond metropolitan area and the 46th nationwide. (See chart 1 and table 1. The Technical Note at the end of this release contains the metropolitan area definition. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

 

  

In the greater Richmond metropolitan area, the education and health services supersector gained 3,800 jobs from June 2013 to June 2014, the largest 12-month increase in over five years. The recent advance represented a 4.1-percent employment increase over the year, more than twice the national growth rate of 1.9 percent for this industry.

Three other industries in the Richmond area recorded job gains of 1,000 or more over the year: professional and business services (3,100); trade, transportation, and utilities (2,200); and financial activities (1,700). The recent increase in professional and business services was the largest 12-month gain since December 2012. The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector and the financial activities supersector have recorded uninterrupted 12-month advances in this area since June and October 2010, respectively. The local growth rates for professional and business services and trade, transportation, and utilities were lower than the national rates for these industries. The financial activities supersector grew at a 3.6-percent pace over the year in Richmond, over four times faster than the national rate. (See chart 2.)

 

  

In the Richmond area, no supersector lost 1,000 or more jobs over the year. 

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 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

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 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 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 survey and administrative data 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 are also 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 special 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 state CES data at the supersector level are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at www.bls.gov/sae/.

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 in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet 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: 1-800-877-8339.

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, dated December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Richmond, Va. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex Counties and Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond cities in Virginia.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area,
not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Jun 2013	Apr 2014	May 2014	Jun 2014 (1)	Jun 2013 to Jun 2014 (1)
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		137,195	138,265	139,179	139,761	2,566	1.9
Mining and logging		873	892	900	917	44	5.0
Construction		6,018	5,869	6,054	6,210	192	3.2
Manufacturing		12,074	12,035	12,096	12,203	129	1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities		25,852	26,056	26,256	26,443	591	2.3
Information		2,694	2,655	2,653	2,668	-26	-1.0
Financial activities		7,933	7,886	7,919	7,997	64	0.8
Professional and business services		18,681	19,061	19,153	19,342	661	3.5
Education and health services		20,874	21,534	21,486	21,265	391	1.9
Leisure and hospitality		14,871	14,469	14,864	15,280	409	2.8
Other services		5,531	5,501	5,537	5,571	40	0.7
Government		21,794	22,307	22,261	21,865	71	0.3
Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		636.9	643.1	645.4	650.1	13.2	2.1
Mining, logging, & construction		35.0	34.8	35.2	35.3	0.3	0.9
Manufacturing		32.5	31.9	32.1	32.3	-0.2	-0.6
Trade, transportation, & utilities		118.2	119.4	119.8	120.4	2.2	1.9
Information		8.0	8.7	8.6	8.5	0.5	6.3
Financial activities		47.8	48.9	49.2	49.5	1.7	3.6
Professional & business services		98.6	98.9	100.5	101.7	3.1	3.1
Educational & health services		91.6	96.4	95.7	95.4	3.8	4.1
Leisure & hospitality		61.4	57.9	59.5	61.7	0.3	0.5
Other services		31.0	31.5	31.7	31.9	0.9	2.9
Government		112.8	114.7	113.1	113.4	0.6	0.5
Footnotes (1) State and regional data for the most recent month are preliminary; U.S. data are preliminary for two months.
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Return to Mid-Atlantic Information Office Homepage menu