Total nonfarm employment for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,829,100 in May 2015, up 29,300, or 1.0 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 2.2 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the Philadelphia area has not had an over-the-year decline in more than four years. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area is made up of four metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. All four divisions saw employment increases over the year. The Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County Metropolitan Division, with 37 percent of the area’s employment, gained 11,500 jobs since last May. The Philadelphia Metropolitan Division, with 32 percent of local employment, added 12,600 jobs over the year. The Camden Metropolitan Division had 18 percent of the area’s employment and gained 1,300 jobs over the year, while the Wilmington Metropolitan Division with the remaining 13 percent, gained 3,900 jobs.

Industry employment

In the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area, education and health services recorded the largest employment gain from May 2014 to May 2015, adding 11,200 jobs. The Philadelphia area’s 1.9-percent growth in education and health services employment was lower than the nationwide increase of 2.9 percent. Most of the local job gains in this industry were centered in the Montgomery County division (4,500). The Philadelphia division added 3,300 jobs in this supersector, and the Camden and Wilmington divisions each gained 1,700 jobs. (See chart 2.)

Mining, logging, and construction employment increased by 7,900 since last May, the second-largest gain in the Philadelphia area and a 7.4-percent increase over the year. Of the four divisions, the Montgomery County and Camden divisions saw the largest increases in this industry, adding 3,400 and 3,300 jobs, respectively.

Four other supersectors in the Philadelphia area gained at least 2,500 jobs since last May—trade, transportation, and utilities (7,500); leisure and hospitality (7,000); other services (3,400); and financial activities (2,900). Most of the job growth in trade, transportation, and utilities and financial activities occurred in the Montgomery County division; the majority of jobs added for leisure and hospitality and other services were in the Philadelphia division.

Two supersectors in the Philadelphia area lost more than 1,000 jobs over the year—professional and business services (-6,500) and government (-2,600). Over half of the professional and business services job loss occurred in the Montgomery County division, and the majority of the government job loss occurred in the Philadelphia division.

Twelve largest metropolitan areas

Philadelphia was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in May 2015. All 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with 6 exceeding the national average of 2.2 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was registered in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 3.4 percent, followed by Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, up 3.2 percent. The slowest growth rate occurred in Philadelphia (1.0 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area added the largest number of jobs, 151,200 since May 2014. Employment increased by over 100,000 in two other areas—New York-Newark-Jersey City (139,800) and Dallas (110,500). Philadelphia experienced the smallest gain, adding 29,300 jobs over the 12-month period.

Professional and business services recorded the most job growth in 5 of the 12 metropolitan areas from May a year ago—Atlanta, Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services added the most jobs in five other areas—Los Angeles, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale. The remaining two metropolitan areas, Dallas and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, had the most job growth in trade, transportation and utilities.

Manufacturing recorded the largest over-the-year loss of jobs in five areas—Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, and Phoenix. Four areas experienced no job losses greater than 1,000 for any supersector since last May—Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.

Metropolitan area employment data for June 2015 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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 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 2012 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 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/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the deliniations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County in Maryland.

• The Camden, N.J. Metropolitan Division includes Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties in New Jersey.
• The Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, Pa. Metropolitan Division includes Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania.
• The Philadelphia, Pa. Metropolitan Division includes Delaware and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.
• The Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. Metropolitan Division includes New Castle County in   Delaware; Cecil County in Maryland; and Salem County in New Jersey.

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: (800) 877-8339.