Total nonfarm employment for the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, metropolitan area stood at 1,420,800 in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that, while employment levels in the Baltimore area were little changed over the year, the rate of increase nationally was 1.5 percent. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Baltimore metropolitan area, August 2021–August 2024

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Aug 2021	68.4
Sep 2021	46.8
Oct 2021	50.1
Nov 2021	51.9
Dec 2021	59.4
Jan 2022	46.5
Feb 2022	56.0
Mar 2022	41.0
Apr 2022	42.7
May 2022	41.4
Jun 2022	34.0
Jul 2022	36.0
Aug 2022	35.6
Sep 2022	38.5
Oct 2022	18.1
Nov 2022	15.4
Dec 2022	6.0
Jan 2023	18.4
Feb 2023	10.3
Mar 2023	18.4
Apr 2023	13.3
May 2023	14.9
Jun 2023	26.1
Jul 2023	10.5
Aug 2023	6.1
Sep 2023	4.2
Oct 2023	10.6
Nov 2023	5.1
Dec 2023	4.9
Jan 2024	-2.7
Feb 2024	0.8
Mar 2024	-2.0
Apr 2024	-2.7
May 2024	-1.5
Jun 2024	-2.3
Jul 2024	-5.0
Aug 2024	0.4

Among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors, education and health services gained 8,100 jobs over the year. (See chart 2.) The local area’s 3.0-percent increase compared to the 3.9-percent rise on a national level.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Baltimore metropolitan area, August 2024

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Education and health services*	8.1
Professional and business services	4.3
Manufacturing	1.8
Other services	0.3
Information	-1.0
Financial activities	-1.3
Mining, logging, and construction	-1.8
Leisure and hospitality	-2.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	-4.3
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for September 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

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. Further information on CES benchmark methods and 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 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard, and Queen Anne’s Counties and Baltimore City in Maryland.

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

Area	Back data	Aug 2023	Jun 2024	Jul 2024	Aug 2024(1)	Aug 2023 to Aug 2024(1)
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		156,355	159,341	158,387	158,650	2,295	1.5
Mining and logging		652	637	641	644	-8	-1.2
Construction		8,263	8,413	8,463	8,497	234	2.8
Manufacturing		13,001	13,016	13,012	12,982	-19	-0.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities		28,712	29,017	28,974	28,924	212	0.7
Information		3,021	3,031	3,026	3,023	2	0.1
Financial activities		9,278	9,279	9,319	9,313	35	0.4
Professional and business services		22,980	23,071	23,047	23,068	88	0.4
Education and health services		25,218	26,143	26,095	26,190	972	3.9
Leisure and hospitality		17,306	17,611	17,691	17,594	288	1.7
Other services		5,895	5,989	5,988	5,959	64	1.1
Government		22,029	23,134	22,131	22,456	427	1.9
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		1,420.4	1,425.0	1,419.2	1,420.8	0.4	0.0
Mining, logging, and construction		81.0	78.2	78.9	79.2	-1.8	-2.2
Manufacturing		59.1	60.7	61.1	60.9	1.8	3.0
Trade, transportation, & utilities		247.5	243.6	242.8	243.2	-4.3	-1.7
Information		16.3	15.5	15.5	15.3	-1.0	-6.1
Financial activities		79.4	77.6	78.0	78.1	-1.3	-1.6
Professional & business services		255.7	255.5	258.1	260.0	4.3	1.7
Education & health services		270.9	277.2	275.5	279.0	8.1	3.0
Leisure & hospitality		135.4	135.5	136.2	133.2	-2.2	-1.6
Other services		48.5	48.7	49.3	48.8	0.3	0.6
Government		226.6	232.5	223.8	223.1	-3.5	-1.5
Baltimore City
Total Nonfarm		371.7	375.7	376.3	379.1	7.4	2.0
Mining, logging, and construction		9.7	9.2	9.4	9.3	-0.4	-4.1
Manufacturing		10.6	11.0	11.1	11.1	0.5	4.7
Trade, transportation, & utilities		44.4	43.3	43.1	43.3	-1.1	-2.5
Information		5.1	4.9	4.8	4.8	-0.3	-5.9
Financial activities		17.7	17.4	17.5	17.5	-0.2	-1.1
Professional & business services		57.9	58.8	59.7	61.2	3.3	5.7
Education & health services		114.5	116.5	117.0	118.3	3.8	3.3
Leisure & hospitality		26.8	27.4	27.4	26.6	-0.2	-0.7
Other services		11.6	12.0	12.2	12.1	0.5	4.3
Government		73.4	75.2	74.1	74.9	1.5	2.0
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