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News Release Information

21-1340-CHI
Thursday, July 29, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Detroit Area Employment — June 2021

Total nonfarm employment for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area increased by 152,400 over the year in June, 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 gain, 8.6 percent, compared to the 5.8-percent national increase. This was the third consecutive month of over-the-year employment increases 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, gained 96,200 jobs over the year. The Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 38 percent of the area’s employment, gained 56,200 jobs since June 2020.

Industry employment

In the greater Detroit metropolitan area, leisure and hospitality had the largest job gain (+40,700). The Warren division added 21,900 jobs in leisure and hospitality, and the Detroit division added 18,800 jobs. Increases in both divisions were driven by growth in the accommodation and food services sector. The 31.4-percent rate of growth in the metropolitan area’s leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 21.3-percent gain on a national level. (See chart 2.)


Professional and business services gained 31,200 jobs locally, an 8.9-percent increase from June 2020 to June 2021, with both metropolitan area divisions recording significant growth. Gains in the metropolitan area were concentrated in the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector (+15,100) and the professional, scientific, and technical services sector (+13,800). Nationwide, employment in the industry was up 6.4 percent.

Trade, transportation, and utilities gained 31,100 jobs over the year in the local area. Both divisions had significant job growth in the supersector. Trade, transportation, and utilities employment in the local area rose 9.2 percent, compared to the national increase of 5.1 percent.

Employment in education and health services was up 17,500 over the year. Within this supersector, employment in the health care and social assistance sector was up 13,000.

Four other supersectors had significant over-the-year job gains ranging from 8,000 jobs in other services to 6,600 jobs in mining, logging, and construction.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for July 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 1, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on June 2021 Establishment Survey Data

BLS has continued to review all estimation and methodological procedures for the establishment survey, which included the review of data, estimation processes, the application of the birth-death model, and seasonal adjustment. Business births and deaths cannot be adequately captured by the establishment survey as they occur. Therefore, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program uses a model to account for the relatively stable net employment change generated by business births and deaths. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the relationship between business births and deaths is no longer stable. Typically, reports with zero employment are not included in estimation. For the May final and June preliminary estimates, CES included a portion of these reports in the estimates and made modifications to the birth-death model. In addition for both months, the establishment survey included a portion of the reports that returned to reporting positive employment from reporting zero employment. For more information, see www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm.

In the establishment survey, workers who are paid by their employer for all or any part of the pay period including the 12th of the month are counted as employed, even if they were not actually at their jobs. Workers who are temporarily or permanently absent from their jobs and are not being paid are not counted as employed, even if they are continuing to receive benefits. The length of the reference period does vary across the respondents in the establishment survey; one-third of businesses have a weekly pay period, slightly over 40 percent a bi-weekly, about 20 percent semi-monthly, and a small amount monthly.


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 IndustryJun
2020
Apr
2021
May
2021
Jun
2021(p)
Jun 2020 to
Jun 2021(p)
Net
change
Percent
change

United States

Total nonfarm

138,501144,397145,369146,5178,0165.8

Mining and logging

600612618633335.5

Construction

7,3597,3657,4777,5922333.2

Manufacturing

12,06912,22612,28212,3893202.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

25,93026,84527,01927,2631,3335.1

Information

2,6062,6952,7162,7431375.3

Financial activities

8,6758,7708,7818,8401651.9

Professional and business services

19,68320,71020,76520,9461,2636.4

Education and health services

22,49123,59723,53823,3558643.8

Leisure and hospitality

12,63714,02014,61115,3292,69221.3

Other services

5,2175,5675,6045,7104939.4

Government

21,23421,99021,95821,7174832.3

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area

Total nonfarm

1,778.71,885.41,904.01,931.1152.48.6

Mining, logging, and construction

75.474.379.282.06.68.8

Manufacturing

227.0229.5231.1234.97.93.5

Trade, transportation, and utilities

337.4363.6364.0368.531.19.2

Information

24.725.325.325.20.52.0

Financial activities

119.4124.7124.2126.47.05.9

Professional and business services

351.5376.5381.2382.731.28.9

Education and health services

277.4294.3293.2294.917.56.3

Leisure and hospitality

129.5151.2160.4170.240.731.4

Other services

58.464.465.966.48.013.7

Government

178.0181.6179.5179.91.91.1

Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

670.2711.5718.8726.456.28.4

Mining, logging, and construction

20.920.122.021.50.62.9

Manufacturing

81.683.486.085.43.84.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

134.6145.3146.3148.113.510.0

Information

6.66.96.86.80.23.0

Financial activities

40.743.743.544.43.79.1

Professional and business services

117.8123.6124.3126.18.37.0

Education and health services

116.1119.9119.3120.84.74.0

Leisure and hospitality

46.660.162.265.418.840.3

Other services

21.924.324.824.93.013.7

Government

83.484.283.683.0-0.4-0.5

Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division

Total nonfarm

1,108.51,173.91,185.21,204.796.28.7

Mining, logging, and construction

54.554.257.260.56.011.0

Manufacturing

145.4146.1145.1149.54.12.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

202.8218.3217.7220.417.68.7

Information

18.118.418.518.40.31.7

Financial activities

78.781.080.782.03.34.2

Professional and business services

233.7252.9256.9256.622.99.8

Education and health services

161.3174.4173.9174.112.87.9

Leisure and hospitality

82.991.198.2104.821.926.4

Other services

36.540.141.141.55.013.7

Government

94.697.495.996.92.32.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, July 29, 2021