Total nonfarm employment for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area decreased by 128,500 over the year in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the local rate of job loss, 6.4 percent, compared to the 4.4-percent national decline. This was the 13^th consecutive month of over-the-year employment declines in the Detroit area. (The Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Detroit metropolitan area is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills division with 62 percent of the area’s total payroll, lost 82,900 jobs over the year. The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 38 percent of the area’s employment, lost 45,600 jobs since March 2020.

Industry employment

In the greater Detroit metropolitan area, leisure and hospitality had the largest job loss (-39,300), with both metropolitan area divisions recording significant declines. The 20.9-percent rate of decline in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 14.4-percent loss on a national level. (See chart 2.)

Education and health services lost 24,200 jobs locally, a 7.6-percent decline from March 2020 to March 2021. Both metropolitan divisions had significant employment decreases over the year. Nationwide, employment in the industry was down 3.9 percent.

Manufacturing lost 16,600 jobs over the year in the local area. The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills division had a significant job loss (-13,000). Manufacturing employment in the local area declined 6.6 percent, compared to the national decrease of 3.3 percent.

Three other supersectors had significant over-the-year job losses: other services (-9,300); trade, transportation, and utilities (-8,900); and information (-2,900).

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for April 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, 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 that 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 at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/ces-20110307.pdf.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports that 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 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 the totals shown in the same tables because of 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. 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 https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/bmrk_article.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 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne Counties in Michigan.

The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Division includes Wayne County in Michigan.

The Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties in Michigan.

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 sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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

Area and Industry	Mar 2020	Jan 2021	Feb 2021	Mar 2021(p)	Mar 2020 to Mar 2021(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	149,952	140,980	142,077	143,400	-6,552	-4.4
Mining and logging	669	593	584	608	-61	-9.1
Construction	7,297	7,067	7,006	7,217	-80	-1.1
Manufacturing	12,672	12,142	12,188	12,254	-418	-3.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,423	26,957	26,805	26,907	-516	-1.9
Information	2,888	2,648	2,670	2,669	-219	-7.6
Financial activities	8,805	8,733	8,734	8,748	-57	-0.6
Professional and business services	21,050	20,291	20,442	20,535	-515	-2.4
Education and health services	24,471	23,105	23,393	23,515	-956	-3.9
Leisure and hospitality	15,745	12,576	13,037	13,473	-2,272	-14.4
Other services	5,805	5,415	5,453	5,506	-299	-5.2
Government	23,127	21,453	21,765	21,968	-1,159	-5.0
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,010.2	1,840.2	1,867.1	1,881.7	-128.5	-6.4
Mining, logging, and construction	73.1	71.0	68.4	70.9	-2.2	-3.0
Manufacturing	252.3	235.8	236.0	235.7	-16.6	-6.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	373.8	366.7	364.1	364.9	-8.9	-2.4
Information	28.0	24.8	24.9	25.1	-2.9	-10.4
Financial activities	123.6	122.6	123.5	123.2	-0.4	-0.3
Professional and business services	385.0	369.1	370.9	373.2	-11.8	-3.1
Education and health services	319.0	291.5	295.0	294.8	-24.2	-7.6
Leisure and hospitality	188.3	119.7	140.7	149.0	-39.3	-20.9
Other services	73.8	63.2	64.1	64.5	-9.3	-12.6
Government	193.3	175.8	179.5	180.4	-12.9	-6.7
Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	761.9	698.7	705.6	716.3	-45.6	-6.0
Mining, logging, and construction	20.5	19.5	18.4	19.7	-0.8	-3.9
Manufacturing	90.5	87.1	86.9	86.9	-3.6	-4.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	149.0	145.9	144.7	145.7	-3.3	-2.2
Information	7.3	6.7	6.8	6.9	-0.4	-5.5
Financial activities	41.3	42.3	42.7	42.8	1.5	3.6
Professional and business services	127.9	122.9	122.2	123.9	-4.0	-3.1
Education and health services	132.1	120.1	120.9	121.4	-10.7	-8.1
Leisure and hospitality	75.0	48.8	55.7	61.0	-14.0	-18.7
Other services	27.9	23.9	24.2	24.4	-3.5	-12.5
Government	90.4	81.5	83.1	83.6	-6.8	-7.5
Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	1,248.3	1,141.5	1,161.5	1,165.4	-82.9	-6.6
Mining, logging, and construction	52.6	51.5	50.0	51.2	-1.4	-2.7
Manufacturing	161.8	148.7	149.1	148.8	-13.0	-8.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	224.8	220.8	219.4	219.2	-5.6	-2.5
Information	20.7	18.1	18.1	18.2	-2.5	-12.1
Financial activities	82.3	80.3	80.8	80.4	-1.9	-2.3
Professional and business services	257.1	246.2	248.7	249.3	-7.8	-3.0
Education and health services	186.9	171.4	174.1	173.4	-13.5	-7.2
Leisure and hospitality	113.3	70.9	85.0	88.0	-25.3	-22.3
Other services	45.9	39.3	39.9	40.1	-5.8	-12.6
Government	102.9	94.3	96.4	96.8	-6.1	-5.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary