Total nonfarm employment for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 3,203,500 in October 2020, down 173,700, or 5.1 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count decreased 6.0 percent. Maureen McDevitt Greene, the Bureau’s acting regional commissioner, noted that in October the Washington area had its seventh consecutive over-the-year employment decrease. (See chart 1 and table 1; Technical Note at end of release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division, with 82 percent of the area’s employment, lost 148,700 jobs over the year. The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division, which represented the remaining 18 percent of area employment, lost 25,000 jobs since October 2019.

Industry employment

In the greater Washington metropolitan area, leisure and hospitality had the largest employment decrease from October 2019 to October 2020, losing 77,800 jobs. The Washington area’s 23.2-percent decrease in leisure and hospitality employment compared to the 19.7-percent decrease nationally. (See chart 2.) Ninety-three percent of the local job losses in this supersector were in the Washington division.

Education and health services and trade, transportation, and utilities had the next largest over-the-year local job losses, down 33,800 and 17,200 jobs, respectively. The local rate of job loss in education and health services (-7.5 percent) compared to the 4.4-percent loss for the nation. Trade, transportation, and utility employment decreased 4.2 percent in the Washington area, compared to 3.5 percent nationally.

Over-the-year job losses in the remaining local area supersectors ranged from 14,600 in professional and business services to 2,600 in financial activities.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in October 2020. All 12 areas had over-the-year job loss during the period, with the rates of job loss in 7 areas exceeding the national decrease of 6.0 percent. New York-Newark-Jersey City had the fastest rate of job loss (-10.1 percent), followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (-9.8 percent). Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had the slowest rate of job loss at 2.3 percent. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York lost the largest number of jobs over the year (-1,017,600), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (-520,000). The smallest employment loss occurred in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (-52,100). Annual losses in the remaining nine metropolitan areas ranged from 343,300 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to 89,800 in Dallas.

Over the year, the leisure and hospitality supersector lost the most jobs in all 12 metropolitan areas. New York had the largest loss of jobs for this sector (-339,300), followed by Los Angeles (-204,600). Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell had the smallest job losses for the leisure and hospitality sector (-36,500). The remaining nine areas had job losses ranging from 113,000 in Chicago to 37,600 in Phoenix for this industry sector.

The financial activities supersector added the most jobs in two areas: Dallas (+12,700) and San Francisco (+2,000). Trade, transportation, and utilities gained the most jobs in two other areas: Phoenix (+9,400) and Atlanta (+2,900). The financial activities supersector added the most jobs in three areas: Dallas, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, and San Francisco. Trade, transportation, and utilities gained the most jobs in two other areas: Atlanta and Phoenix.

Metropolitan area employment data for November 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, December 18, 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 at the supersector level and for the private service-providing, goods-producing, total private and total nonfarm levels 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.

• The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division includes the District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Calvert, Charles, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia.
• The Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division includes Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.

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. Detailed industry employment data for metropolitan areas from the CES program are available from the State and Area Employment Databases at www.bls.gov/sae/data/.

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.