Total nonfarm employment for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, metropolitan area increased by 134,800 over the year in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the local rate of job gain, 5.0 percent, compared to the 3.9-percent national increase. (See chart 1 and table 1.) (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

Industry employment

In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, professional and business services had the largest gain (+43,900) among local private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) Within this supersector, the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector added 26,700 jobs, while the professional, scientific, and technical services sector added 15,300 jobs. The 8.3-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s professional and business services supersector compared to the 5.2-percent gain on a national level.

Trade, transportation, and utilities gained 22,200 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. Within this supersector, the transportation and warehousing sector accounted for 13,200 of the jobs gained. The metropolitan area had a 3.8-percent gain in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector, compared to the 3.2-percent increase for the nation.

Leisure and hospitality gained 21,600 jobs over the year. Within this supersector, the accommodation and food services sector accounted for 16,400 of the jobs gained.

Education and health services added 19,400 jobs. The majority of employment gained in this supersector was concentrated in the health care and social assistance sector (+14,900).

Information added 8,600 jobs over the year, and manufacturing gained 7,600 jobs.

Twelve largest metropolitan areas

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in October 2021. All 12 areas gained jobs over the year. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, had the largest increase (+326,400), followed by New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+302,600). Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, had the smallest gain (+88,800) among the largest areas. (See table 2 and chart 3.)

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, had a 5.8-percent rate of job gain, followed by Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH, and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (+5.6 percent each). The rates of job gains in the remaining nine areas ranged from 5.0 percent in both Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, to 3.1 percent in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for November 2021 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 30, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

Special technical note: This technical note describes the procedures regularly used on a monthly basis to develop estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the procedures described in this technical note have been modified. The modifications are briefly described in the box note of this news release. More information on the changes to the CES business birth-death model is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbd.htm.

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 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 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.

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 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties.

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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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

Area and Industry	Oct 2020	Aug 2021	Sept 2021	Oct 2021(p)	Oct 2020 to Oct 2021(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	143,568	147,012	147,659	149,217	5,649	3.9
Mining and logging	597	646	649	656	59	9.9
Construction	7,506	7,644	7,627	7,669	163	2.2
Manufacturing	12,158	12,492	12,470	12,536	378	3.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	26,889	27,329	27,419	27,761	872	3.2
Information	2,654	2,784	2,772	2,787	133	5.0
Financial activities	8,751	8,901	8,857	8,898	147	1.7
Professional and business services	20,505	21,182	21,205	21,566	1,061	5.2
Education and health services	23,427	23,356	23,583	23,929	502	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	13,607	15,826	15,405	15,433	1,826	13.4
Other services	5,487	5,783	5,722	5,766	279	5.1
Government	21,987	21,069	21,950	22,216	229	1.0
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,705.1	2,793.0	2,799.2	2,839.9	134.8	5.0
Mining and logging	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.7	0.1	6.3
Construction	126.6	129.6	129.7	131.0	4.4	3.5
Manufacturing	163.4	166.8	168.8	171.0	7.6	4.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	583.7	591.5	598.1	605.9	22.2	3.8
Information	98.3	101.7	103.6	106.9	8.6	8.7
Financial activities	180.3	183.3	181.5	182.1	1.8	1.0
Professional and business services	528.5	562.8	561.5	572.4	43.9	8.3
Education and health services	358.4	369.5	367.0	377.8	19.4	5.4
Leisure and hospitality	239.9	263.7	260.5	261.5	21.6	9.0
Other services	93.5	96.1	95.0	95.6	2.1	2.2
Government	330.9	326.4	331.9	334.0	3.1	0.9
Footnotes (p) Preliminary