Total nonfarm employment for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,961,900 in February 2020, up 29,200, 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 1.6 percent. (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.) Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that the Philadelphia area has had consecutive over-the-year employment increases since April 2012. (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-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area is made up of four metropolitan divisions¾separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. All of the four divisions reported employment increases over the year. The Philadelphia Metropolitan Division, with 34 percent of the area’s employment, gained 23,900 jobs since last February. The Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County Metropolitan Division, with 36 percent of the area’s employment, added 2,300 jobs, and the Camden Metropolitan Division, with 18 percent of the area’s employment, had an increase of 1,600 jobs over the year. The Wilmington Metropolitan Division, with the remaining 12 percent, added 1,400 jobs.

Industry employment

In the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area, education and health services had the largest employment gain from February 2019 to February 2020, adding 10,600 jobs. The Philadelphia area’s 1.6-percent growth in education and health services employment compared to the nationwide increase of 2.7 percent. (See chart 2.) The Philadelphia division added 7,500 jobs and the Montgomery County division added 1,500 jobs.

Professional and business services (+7,200, +1.6 percent), leisure and hospitality (+6,400, +2.5 percent), and government (+2,200, +0.6 percent) had the next largest over-the-year local job gains. Nationally, employment was up 2.0 percent in professional and business services, 2.6 percent in leisure and hospitality, and 1.0 percent in government.

Two other supersectors in the local area gained at least 1,000 jobs each since last February: financial activities (+1,300) and other services (+1,300).

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in February 2020. All 12 areas had over-the-year job growth during the period, with the rates of job growth in six areas at or above the national average of 1.6 percent. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had the fastest rate of job growth, up 3.4 percent, followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (+3.2 percent). Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (+0.6 percent)had the slowest rate of job growth. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Dallas added the largest number of jobs over the year, 126,000, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (+103,100), and New York-Newark-Jersey City (+100,100). Boston-Cambridge-Nashua had the smallest employment gain over the year (+25,100), followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (+28,900). Annual gains in the remaining seven metropolitan areas ranged from 69,800 in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale to 29,200 in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.

Over the year, education and health services added the most jobs in eight areas: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Boston, Chicago, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. Professional and business services added the most jobs in the four remaining areas.

The manufacturing sector lost the most jobs in five areas: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward. Boston had an equal number of job losses in manufacturing and other services. Dallas, Phoenix, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria were the only areas to have job gains in all supersectors from February 2019 to February 2020.

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 17, 2020, 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 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.

For some employment series, the sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

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 surveys,  administrative data, and modeling 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 nonfarm 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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/publications/benchmark-article/annual-benchmark-article.pdf.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-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, NJ 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, DE-MD-NJ 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 CES program are also available in the news release State Employment and Unemployment and from the BLS website 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.