Total nonfarm employment for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, metropolitan area stood at 2,005,000 in March 2023 compared to 1,981,000 a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the employment change over the year was not statistically significant. Nationally, employment rose 2.7 percent over the year. (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 Detroit metropolitan area, March 2020–March 2023

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Mar 2020	-13.5
Apr 2020	-523.1
May 2020	-465.4
Jun 2020	-286.9
Jul 2020	-225.3
Aug 2020	-201.8
Sep 2020	-178.1
Oct 2020	-147.2
Nov 2020	-155.3
Dec 2020	-187.9
Jan 2021	-163.6
Feb 2021	-141.2
Mar 2021	-116.5
Apr 2021	383.1
May 2021	323.1
Jun 2021	153.1
Jul 2021	106.0
Aug 2021	91.4
Sep 2021	73.0
Oct 2021	78.9
Nov 2021	85.6
Dec 2021	114.1
Jan 2022	100.7
Feb 2022	82.1
Mar 2022	86.6
Apr 2022	104.4
May 2022	97.2
Jun 2022	85.6
Jul 2022	88.2
Aug 2022	74.3
Sep 2022	64.3
Oct 2022	38.8
Nov 2022	27.0
Dec 2022	26.9
Jan 2023	32.4
Feb 2023	34.2
Mar 2023	24.0

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, is made up of two metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. Employment in Warren-Troy-Farmington, MI, was 1,239,400 and accounted for 62 percent of the metropolitan area's total payroll, and Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, MI, employed 765,600, accounting for 38 percent of the area's employment in March 2023.

In Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, education and health services had the only gain (+12,800) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) The Warren-Troy-Farmington, MI, division added 7,900 jobs in this supersector. Education and health services employment in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI, metropolitan area rose 4.3-percent, the same as the national level. No other supersectors in the metropolitan area reported a significant over-the-year job change in March.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Detroit metropolitan area, March 2023

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Education and health services*	12.8
Leisure and hospitality	8.8
Mining, logging, and construction	2.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1.6
Information	1.1
Other services	1.1
Professional and business services	0.9
Manufacturing	-3.6
Financial activities	-5.1
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 April 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 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.

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 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 individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.