Total nonfarm employment for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, metropolitan area increased by 60,800 over the year in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the local rate of job gain, 4.6 percent, compared to the 4.9-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Industry employment

In Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+23,200) among local private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) Within this supersector, the accommodation and food services sector accounted for an increase of 13,700 jobs. The 24.6-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 17.4-percent national level gain.

Trade, transportation, and utilities gained 15,400 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. Within this supersector, the transportation and warehousing sector added 9,200 jobs and the retail trade sector added 4,600 jobs. The metropolitan area had a 6.4-percent gain in this supersector compared to the 4.6-percent increase for the nation.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for March 2022 is scheduled to be released on April 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. 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 estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to decrease volatility in estimation.

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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.htm.

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 also are 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 specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Measures of sampling error for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland.

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, United States and the Baltimore metropolitan area,
not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Feb 2021	Dec 2021	Jan 2022	Feb 2022(1)	Feb 2021 to Feb 2022(1)
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		142,129	150,352	147,505	149,144	7,015	4.9
Mining and logging		531	589	580	588	57	10.7
Construction		6,970	7,449	7,192	7,284	314	4.5
Manufacturing		12,169	12,579	12,493	12,577	408	3.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities		27,085	29,043	28,279	28,333	1,248	4.6
Information		2,749	2,925	2,876	2,899	150	5.5
Financial activities		8,674	8,893	8,804	8,848	174	2.0
Professional and business services		20,649	21,964	21,528	21,806	1,157	5.6
Education and health services		23,503	24,090	23,752	24,154	651	2.8
Leisure and hospitality		12,540	14,804	14,458	14,717	2,177	17.4
Other services		5,266	5,586	5,520	5,582	316	6.0
Government		21,993	22,430	22,023	22,356	363	1.7
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,323.0	1,403.3	1,370.1	1,383.8	60.8	4.6
Mining, logging, and construction		77.9	79.6	79.1	79.3	1.4	1.8
Manufacturing		58.3	59.8	59.2	59.2	0.9	1.5
Trade, transportation, & utilities		239.6	264.0	254.8	255.0	15.4	6.4
Information		16.1	17.0	17.0	17.3	1.2	7.5
Financial activities		76.9	76.8	75.9	76.1	-0.8	-1.0
Professional & business services		234.4	248.3	243.8	245.2	10.8	4.6
Education & health services		260.2	264.0	257.0	261.8	1.6	0.6
Leisure & hospitality		94.2	117.5	114.7	117.4	23.2	24.6
Other services		45.2	48.1	46.8	47.1	1.9	4.2
Government		220.2	228.2	221.8	225.4	5.2	2.4
Baltimore City
Total Nonfarm		352.9	374.4	362.7	367.1	14.2	4.0
Mining, logging, and construction		10.3	10.5	10.5	10.6	0.3	2.9
Manufacturing		10.5	11.3	11.0	11.1	0.6	5.7
Trade, transportation, & utilities		45.5	50.8	48.6	48.4	2.9	6.4
Information		4.9	5.0	4.9	5.0	0.1	2.0
Financial activities		17.1	17.2	17.0	17.1	0.0	0.0
Professional & business services		51.5	56.4	56.1	55.5	4.0	7.8
Education & health services		112.6	112.3	107.8	110.6	-2.0	-1.8
Leisure & hospitality		16.9	23.7	22.4	23.0	6.1	36.1
Other services		10.8	11.2	11.1	11.1	0.3	2.8
Government		72.8	76.0	73.3	74.7	1.9	2.6
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 Return to Mid-Atlantic Information Office Homepage menu