Total nonfarm employment for the Virginia Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 796,000 in June 2018, up 0.5 percent over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.6 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the June increase was the second consecutive month of over-the-year job increases in the Virginia Beach metropolitan area. (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 Virginia Beach metropolitan area, professional and business services had the largest employment increase from June 2017 to June 2018, adding 2,700 jobs. The local rate of job growth in professional and business services was 2.5 percent, close to this industry’s national rate increase of 2.6 percent.

Virginia Beach’s leisure and hospitality supersector had the second largest increase over the year, adding 2,600 jobs. The local rate of job growth in the supersector was 2.6 percent, faster than the national rate of 1.6 percent.

Two other supersectors had job increases greater than 1,000 over the year. Manufacturing added 2,000 jobs, and trade, transportation, and utilities added 1,200 jobs. The local rate of job growth in manufacturing was 3.8 percent, faster than the 2.3-percent gain nationally. Trade, transportation, and utilities employment in Virginia Beach grew 0.9 percent since June 2017 compared to the U.S. rate of 1.1 percent. (See chart 2.)

In the Virginia Beach area, two supersectors lost more than 1,000 jobs from June 2017 to June 2018: education and health services (-1,900 jobs) and government (-1,500). While the local rate of job loss for the education and health services industry was 1.7 percent, employment for the U.S. grew 2.0 percent. Locally, employment in government declined by 0.9 percent since June 2017, while nationally it was unchanged over the year.

Metropolitan area employment data for July 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, August 17, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

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 2017 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria.

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 the total private employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.pdf.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated June 15, 2015. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York Counties and Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg cities in Virginia and Currituck County in North Carolina.

 

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

Area	Back data	Jun 2017	Apr 2018	May 2018	Jun 2018	Jun 2017 to Jun 2018
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		147,578	148,372	(p)149,334	(p)149,980	(p)2,402	(p)1.6
Mining and logging		684	721	(p)730	(p)742	(p)58	(p)8.5
Construction		7,157	7,081	(p)7,279	(p)7,439	(p)282	(p)3.9
Manufacturing		12,508	12,598	(p)12,654	(p)12,795	(p)287	(p)2.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities		27,498	27,496	(p)27,690	(p)27,804	(p)306	(p)1.1
Information		2,809	2,763	(p)2,765	(p)2,781	(p)-28	(p)-1.0
Financial activities		8,510	8,505	(p)8,552	(p)8,637	(p)127	(p)1.5
Professional and business services		20,600	20,822	(p)20,933	(p)21,134	(p)534	(p)2.6
Education and health services		22,966	23,697	(p)23,633	(p)23,417	(p)451	(p)2.0
Leisure and hospitality		16,759	16,134	(p)16,552	(p)17,027	(p)268	(p)1.6
Other services		5,849	5,841	(p)5,886	(p)5,956	(p)107	(p)1.8
Government		22,238	22,714	(p)22,660	(p)22,248	(p)10	(p)0.0
Virginia Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm		791.7	780.5	787.6	(p)796.0	(p)4.3	(p)0.5
Mining, logging, and construction		38.3	37.9	38.4	(p)38.2	(p)-0.1	(p)-0.3
Manufacturing		52.1	53.7	54.0	(p)54.1	(p)2.0	(p)3.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities		135.5	133.4	135.3	(p)136.7	(p)1.2	(p)0.9
Information		11.3	11.0	11.2	(p)11.1	(p)-0.2	(p)-1.8
Financial activities		38.7	37.2	37.2	(p)38.0	(p)-0.7	(p)-1.8
Professional and business services		109.6	108.8	110.9	(p)112.3	(p)2.7	(p)2.5
Education and health services		109.6	110.6	108.4	(p)107.7	(p)-1.9	(p)-1.7
Leisure and hospitality		99.3	90.9	96.4	(p)101.9	(p)2.6	(p)2.6
Other services		36.8	36.5	36.7	(p)37.0	(p)0.2	(p)0.5
Government		160.5	160.5	159.1	(p)159.0	(p)-1.5	(p)-0.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary
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