Total nonfarm employment for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, metropolitan area increased by 45,300 over the year in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the local rate of job gain, 1.5 percent, compared to the 1.3-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.)

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, is made up of three metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL, accounted for 45 percent of the metropolitan area’s total nonfarm employment. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield, FL, accounted for 31 percent of the area’s employment and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL, accounted for 24 percent of area employment.

Industry employment

In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, education and health services had the largest gain (+12,600) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) The 2.8-percent increase in the metropolitan area’s education and health services supersector compared to the 3.8-percent gain on a national level.

Construction added 10,300 jobs over the year. The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL, division added 5,900 jobs, or 57.3 percent, of the metropolitan area’s employment gained in this industry. The metropolitan area had a 6.6-percent gain in the construction supersector, compared to the 2.7-percent increase for the nation.

Other services added 6,400 jobs over the year in the metropolitan area. Job gains in this industry were concentrated in the Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL, division (+4,100). The metropolitan area had a 5.6-percent gain in the other services supersector, compared to the 1.2-percent increase for the nation.

Within the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector, retail trade lost 5,000 jobs over the past year in the metropolitan area.

Twelve largest metropolitan areas

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in October 2024. Seven of twelve areas gained total nonfarm payroll employment over the year. The largest job gain occurred in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+132,700). Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (+37,000), had the smallest employment increase among the areas with significant changes. (See table 2 and chart 3.)

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, reported a 1.9-percent rate of job gain. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, reported a job gain of 0.9 percent.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for November 2024 is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 3, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary. See the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Technical Note for more information on definitions and methodology.

Reliability of the employment 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. 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. Documentation on the reliability of state and area estimates is available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineations issued 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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties.

• The Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL Metropolitan Division includes Broward County.
• The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division includes Miami-Dade County.
• The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metropolitan Division includes Palm Beach County.

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.