Total nonfarm employment for Richmond, VA, rose by 17,300 over the year in December, 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, 2.4 percent, compared to the 1.9-percent national increase. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Industry employment

Among the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors, only leisure and hospitality gained jobs (+7,000) over the year. (See chart 2.) The local area’s 10.8-percent increase compared to the 3.2-percent rise on a national level.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for January 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 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 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

State and area employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website.

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	Dec 2022	Oct 2023	Nov 2023	Dec 2023(1)	Dec 2022 to Dec 2023(1)
						Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm		155,211	157,878	158,347	158,261	3,050	2.0
Mining and logging		626	648	642	641	15	2.4
Construction		7,796	8,249	8,173	8,059	263	3.4
Manufacturing		12,957	12,922	12,953	12,981	24	0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities		29,481	28,973	29,407	29,653	172	0.6
Information		3,112	2,989	3,015	3,030	-82	-2.6
Financial activities		9,174	9,244	9,239	9,266	92	1.0
Professional and business services		22,823	23,116	23,067	22,960	137	0.6
Education and health services		24,926	25,848	26,023	25,980	1,054	4.2
Leisure and hospitality		15,926	16,704	16,496	16,484	558	3.5
Other services		5,745	5,857	5,866	5,846	101	1.8
Government		22,645	23,328	23,466	23,361	716	3.2
Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total Nonfarm		706.7	720.3	725.6	724.0	17.3	2.4
Mining, logging, & construction		41.2	41.3	41.6	40.8	-0.4	-1.0
Manufacturing		32.8	32.2	32.0	32.2	-0.6	-1.8
Trade, transportation, & utilities		134.0	132.6	136.1	137.8	3.8	2.8
Information		6.6	6.2	6.2	6.2	-0.4	-6.1
Financial activities		56.6	56.4	56.3	56.2	-0.4	-0.7
Professional & business services		125.2	128.8	128.9	129.5	4.3	3.4
Educational & health services		99.3	101.6	101.8	101.2	1.9	1.9
Leisure & hospitality		65.1	72.6	72.5	72.1	7.0	10.8
Other services		31.6	31.8	31.9	31.8	0.2	0.6
Government		114.3	116.8	118.3	116.2	1.9	1.7
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