Total nonfarm employment for the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area rose by 19,900 over the year in June, 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, 2.9 percent, compared to the 2.4-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Industry employment

In Richmond, VA, leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+5,800) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) The local area’s 8.5-percent increase compared to the 4.7-percent rise on a national level.

Trade, transportation, and utilities added 5,400 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. The metropolitan area had a 4.3-percent increase compared to the 0.7-percent rise for the nation.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for July 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, 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. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary.

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 2022 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 compensate for smaller sample sizes.

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 in the CES State and Area benchmark article.

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. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

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 Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King and Queen, King William, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex Counties and Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond cities in Virginia.

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 Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area,
not seasonally adjusted (in thousands)

Area	Back data	Jun 2022	Apr 2023	May 2023	Jun 2023(p)	Jun 2022 to Jun 2023(p)
						Net change	Percent change
United States1
Total nonfarm		153,217	155,369	156,266	156,963	3,746	2.4
Mining and logging		613	634	641	647	34	5.5
Construction		7,932	7,823	7,973	8,131	199	2.5
Manufacturing		12,900	12,937	12,952	13,059	159	1.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities		28,637	28,574	28,730	28,851	214	0.7
Information		3,111	3,073	3,078	3,113	2	0.1
Financial activities		9,090	9,078	9,104	9,187	97	1.1
Professional and business services		22,619	22,888	22,997	23,087	468	2.1
Education and health services		24,081	25,271	25,248	25,089	1,008	4.2
Leisure and hospitality		16,501	16,362	16,775	17,273	772	4.7
Other services		5,770	5,829	5,872	5,952	182	3.2
Government		21,963	22,900	22,896	22,574	611	2.8
Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		692.7	707.4	711.2	712.6	19.9	2.9
Mining, logging, & construction		42.8	41.5	41.9	41.8	-1.0	-2.3
Manufacturing		32.5	32.2	32.5	32.1	-0.4	-1.2
Trade, transportation, & utilities		124.9	128.7	129.8	130.3	5.4	4.3
Information		6.7	6.4	6.4	6.0	-0.7	-10.4
Financial activities		56.0	56.8	57.2	56.8	0.8	1.4
Professional & business services		124.7	125.4	128.5	128.4	3.7	3.0
Educational & health services		97.5	101.5	100.6	98.3	0.8	0.8
Leisure & hospitality		68.4	67.5	70.8	74.2	5.8	8.5
Other services		30.9	31.9	31.9	32.2	1.3	4.2
Government		108.3	115.5	111.6	112.5	4.2	3.9
Footnotes (1) U.S. data are preliminary for two months after they are first published. (p) Preliminary
SOURCE: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area