Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,971,200 in March 2015, up 82,500 from one year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. From March 2014 to March 2015, local nonfarm employment rose 2.9 percent, above the national rate of 2.3 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the Houston metropolitan area has had over-the-year employment increases in each month since July 2010. (See chart 1 and table 1; 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.)

Industry employment

Education and health services registered the largest annual job gain among Houston’s supersectors, adding 16,500 jobs, a 4.8-percent rise from March 2014. This industry accounted for about 12 percent of the local area workforce in March 2015, and provided 20 percent of the area’s over-the-year job growth. Local job gains for this major sector were broadly-based, including educational services, ambulatory health care services, and hospitals. Nationwide, education and health services employment rose 2.5 percent during the period. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Trade, transportation, and utilities–the area’s largest supersector–registered an annual job increase of 15,900 from March 2014 to March 2015. The growth was led by a gain of 8,600 jobs in the retail trade industry, an increase of 3.0 percent. The wholesale trade industry added 3,700 jobs during the period while transportation and utilities added 3,600 jobs. The total supersector expanded 2.7 percent locally and 2.3 percent nationally.

Houston’s leisure and hospitality supersector rose 12,900 during the 12-month period, with most of the gain occurring in its largest industry, food services and drinking places. Since March 2014, leisure and hospitality employment increased 4.6 percent locally and 3.4 percent nationally.

The professional and business services supersector gained 10,700 jobs from March 2014, a 2.3-percent rise; nationally, employment increased 3.5 percent in this supersector. Local growth was strongest in the architectural, engineering, and related services industry (up 3,600 or 5.0 percent).

The construction supersector in the Houston area expanded by 8,600 jobs over the year, led by construction of buildings, up 6,400 jobs or 12.4 percent. The total construction sector rose 4.3 percent locally and 4.9 percent nationally.

Government employment added 6,700 jobs since March 2014, with the local government jurisdiction accounting for nearly all of the total government rise, up 6,200. Employment gains in local government were led by educational services, which accounted for three-fourths of the local government sector’s increase. Jobs in both the state and federal government sectors in Houston were little changed over the year. Locally, total government employment rose 1.8 percent, compared to the 0.3-percent gain nationally.

Three other local supersectors recorded employment gains of at least 2,300 from March 2014: mining and logging (5,500); financial activities (3,000); and manufacturing (2,300). The mining and logging industry’s 5.1-percent gain was the fastest among all Houston supersectors, and surpassed the national rate of 0.2 percent. The financial activities sector rose 2.1 percent locally and 1.9 percent nationally.

Within the local manufacturing sector, non-durable manufacturing gains provided about two-thirds of the sector’s growth (1,500 jobs), though it accounted for only about one-third of total manufacturing employment. Locally, manufacturing increased 0.9 percent over the year, while nationally it rose 1.6 percent.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Houston was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in March 2015. All of these areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with seven exceeding the national average of 2.3 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was registered in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, up 3.8 percent, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (3.6 percent) and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (3.4 percent). The slowest rates of job growth were in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (1.3 percent) and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (1.4 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim added the largest number of jobs, 168,500, since March 2014. Two other metropolitan areas, New York-Newark-Jersey City and Dallas, gained more than 100,000 jobs over the year. Boston-Cambridge-Nashua and Philadelphia added the fewest number of jobs.

Education and health services led employment growth in 7 of the 12 metropolitan areas from a year ago—Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Trade, transportation, and utilities recorded the largest gains in four areas—Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Chicago, Dallas, and Miami.

Over the year, manufacturing recorded the largest job losses in Chicago, New York, and Phoenix. Four areas recorded no job losses in any supersector since March 2014—Boston, Dallas, Houston, and Miami

Metropolitan area employment data for April 2015 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 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 2007 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. The employment data are estimated using a "link relative" technique in which a ratio (link relative) of current-month employment to that of the previous month is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are obtained by multiplying the estimates for the previous month by these ratios. Small-domain models are used as the official estimators for the approximately 39 percent of CES published series which have insufficient sample for direct sample-based estimates.

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. Measures of sampling error are available for state CES data at the total nonfarm and supersector level and for metropolitan area CES data. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available online at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties in Texas.

Additional information

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet 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, U.S. and Houston metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Mar. 2014	Jan. 2015	Feb. 2015	Mar. 2015(p)	Change from Mar. 2014 to Mar. 2015
					Number	Percent
U.S.
Total nonfarm	137,214	138,671	139,503	140,326	3,112	2.3
Mining and logging	868	893	878	870	2	0.2
Construction	5,746	5,920	5,929	6,025	279	4.9
Manufacturing	12,061	12,212	12,228	12,256	195	1.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	25,852	26,546	26,349	26,451	599	2.3
Information	2,719	2,739	2,770	2,777	58	2.1
Financial activities	7,889	8,016	8,024	8,040	151	1.9
Professional and business services	18,685	19,124	19,230	19,344	659	3.5
Education and health services	21,465	21,629	21,917	22,011	546	2.5
Leisure and hospitality	14,181	14,271	14,417	14,664	483	3.4
Other services	5,523	5,549	5,573	5,597	74	1.3
Government	22,225	21,772	22,188	22,291	66	0.3
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,888.7	2,945.6	2,965.7	2,971.2	82.5	2.9
Mining and logging	107.5	113.5	113.7	113.0	5.5	5.1
Construction	198.3	204.9	206.1	206.9	8.6	4.3
Manufacturing	252.4	255.7	254.8	254.7	2.3	0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	585.8	602.8	602.1	601.7	15.9	2.7
Information	33.1	32.7	33.2	33.2	0.1	0.3
Financial activities	145.8	147.3	148.0	148.8	3.0	2.1
Professional and business services	455.4	465.5	466.2	466.1	10.7	2.3
Education and health services	345.6	357.6	361.5	362.1	16.5	4.8
Leisure and hospitality	282.2	285.8	290.4	295.1	12.9	4.6
Other services	103.1	103.6	103.6	103.4	0.3	0.3
Government	379.5	376.2	386.1	386.2	6.7	1.8
(p) preliminary

Table 2. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry supersector, 12 largest metropolitan areas, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Mar. 2014	Jan. 2015	Feb. 2015	Mar. 2015(p)	Change from Mar. 2014 to Mar. 2015
					Number	Percent
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,461.7	2,528.8	2,540.3	2,542.2	80.5	3.3
Mining and logging	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.3	0.0	0.0
Construction	97.5	100.4	103.3	101.4	3.9	4.0
Manufacturing	150.5	153.9	153.8	152.6	2.1	1.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	543.4	565.9	562.6	564.9	21.5	4.0
Information	88.9	87.8	88.2	88.0	-0.9	-1.0
Financial activities	157.1	163.6	163.6	162.5	5.4	3.4
Professional and business services	453.7	462.6	467.1	468.8	15.1	3.3
Education and health services	303.7	313.6	315.7	315.9	12.2	4.0
Leisure and hospitality	248.4	258.2	260.8	263.0	14.6	5.9
Other services	92.6	96.0	95.6	94.8	2.2	2.4
Government	324.6	325.5	328.3	329.0	4.4	1.4
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,544.9	2,569.1	2,565.2	2,584.0	39.1	1.5
Mining, logging, and construction	84.9	89.0	86.2	86.8	1.9	2.2
Manufacturing	191.5	191.9	190.7	191.5	0.0	0.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	403.5	414.6	404.7	406.1	2.6	0.6
Information	74.2	75.1	75.8	75.6	1.4	1.9
Financial activities	170.7	173.0	172.4	172.2	1.5	0.9
Professional and business services	429.1	438.3	438.1	439.4	10.3	2.4
Education and health services	540.9	540.6	546.6	552.1	11.2	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	236.8	233.6	231.1	238.8	2.0	0.8
Other services	98.2	100.5	99.3	100.7	2.5	2.5
Government	315.1	312.5	320.3	320.8	5.7	1.8
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,417.8	4,439.4	4,456.4	4,480.4	62.6	1.4
Mining and logging	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	0.0	0.0
Construction	137.7	136.8	138.2	145.3	7.6	5.5
Manufacturing	409.0	406.6	406.0	405.9	-3.1	-0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	889.3	906.8	901.5	905.0	15.7	1.8
Information	79.5	80.6	80.2	80.3	0.8	1.0
Financial activities	286.1	285.9	286.0	285.4	-0.7	-0.2
Professional and business services	773.1	778.3	783.2	785.2	12.1	1.6
Education and health services	685.8	691.1	698.0	699.9	14.1	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	417.1	417.2	418.4	424.7	7.6	1.8
Other services	192.5	191.6	191.5	192.2	-0.3	-0.2
Government	546.5	543.3	552.2	555.3	8.8	1.6
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,221.5	3,316.7	3,333.3	3,337.3	115.8	3.6
Mining, logging, and construction	187.2	198.7	201.4	198.1	10.9	5.8
Manufacturing	260.1	263.4	262.6	262.1	2.0	0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	667.5	697.0	695.7	696.5	29.0	4.3
Information	81.6	81.9	81.8	81.6	0.0	0.0
Financial activities	261.9	269.5	271.4	273.6	11.7	4.5
Professional and business services	522.7	547.1	547.0	546.7	24.0	4.6
Education and health services	396.4	410.3	411.6	411.2	14.8	3.7
Leisure and hospitality	324.7	329.6	334.9	340.6	15.9	4.9
Other services	115.0	113.5	115.3	115.3	0.3	0.3
Government	404.4	405.7	411.6	411.6	7.2	1.8
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	2,888.7	2,945.6	2,965.7	2,971.2	82.5	2.9
Mining and logging	107.5	113.5	113.7	113.0	5.5	5.1
Construction	198.3	204.9	206.1	206.9	8.6	4.3
Manufacturing	252.4	255.7	254.8	254.7	2.3	0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	585.8	602.8	602.1	601.7	15.9	2.7
Information	33.1	32.7	33.2	33.2	0.1	0.3
Financial activities	145.8	147.3	148.0	148.8	3.0	2.1
Professional and business services	455.4	465.5	466.2	466.1	10.7	2.3
Education and health services	345.6	357.6	361.5	362.1	16.5	4.8
Leisure and hospitality	282.2	285.8	290.4	295.1	12.9	4.6
Other services	103.1	103.6	103.6	103.4	0.3	0.3
Government	379.5	376.2	386.1	386.2	6.7	1.8
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	5,674.0	5,761.5	5,804.3	5,842.5	168.5	3.0
Mining and logging	5.3	5.2	5.2	5.2	-0.1	-1.9
Construction	198.0	203.0	206.3	209.6	11.6	5.9
Manufacturing	523.7	521.5	523.0	526.0	2.3	0.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,036.8	1,072.1	1,062.0	1,063.7	26.9	2.6
Information	222.4	214.9	223.1	224.1	1.7	0.8
Financial activities	320.8	326.8	328.3	327.6	6.8	2.1
Professional and business services	874.7	885.2	893.4	896.2	21.5	2.5
Education and health services	934.9	952.8	969.2	976.7	41.8	4.5
Leisure and hospitality	644.3	660.5	664.4	671.5	27.2	4.2
Other services	195.9	201.8	203.8	206.4	10.5	5.4
Government	717.2	717.7	725.6	735.5	18.3	2.6
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,413.3	2,473.0	2,491.0	2,505.1	91.8	3.8
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	98.0	104.2	105.9	106.0	8.0	8.2
Manufacturing	80.1	80.9	81.9	82.4	2.3	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	558.7	579.4	576.7	577.5	18.8	3.4
Information	47.2	48.0	48.3	48.4	1.2	2.5
Financial activities	166.6	172.2	172.2	173.8	7.2	4.3
Professional and business services	382.6	395.6	400.0	400.6	18.0	4.7
Education and health services	353.0	363.6	368.3	369.2	16.2	4.6
Leisure and hospitality	303.0	303.4	308.9	315.0	12.0	4.0
Other services	116.9	121.1	121.5	123.6	6.7	5.7
Government	306.6	304.0	306.7	308.0	1.4	0.5
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	8,994.3	9,049.7	9,087.6	9,145.9	151.6	1.7
Mining, logging, and construction	321.8	328.0	320.9	328.3	6.5	2.0
Manufacturing	369.9	364.0	362.4	367.1	-2.8	-0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,658.8	1,701.9	1,682.0	1,683.8	25.0	1.5
Information	283.1	279.6	283.1	284.7	1.6	0.6
Financial activities	747.2	747.8	748.2	750.8	3.6	0.5
Professional and business services	1,395.3	1,412.8	1,420.3	1,423.3	28.0	2.0
Education and health services	1,728.3	1,745.1	1,768.3	1,782.8	54.5	3.2
Leisure and hospitality	797.0	792.2	799.5	812.6	15.6	2.0
Other services	395.5	405.9	405.9	409.4	13.9	3.5
Government	1,297.4	1,272.4	1,297.0	1,303.1	5.7	0.4
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,751.2	2,766.2	2,779.0	2,786.5	35.3	1.3
Mining, logging, and construction	99.1	103.5	103.3	105.9	6.8	6.9
Manufacturing	179.2	180.0	179.0	178.5	-0.7	-0.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	506.0	516.8	511.0	511.2	5.2	1.0
Information	46.2	45.5	45.4	45.3	-0.9	-1.9
Financial activities	201.6	206.1	205.0	204.1	2.5	1.2
Professional and business services	435.3	438.6	438.2	438.8	3.5	0.8
Education and health services	588.3	592.5	602.4	601.7	13.4	2.3
Leisure and hospitality	236.1	233.6	235.4	240.9	4.8	2.0
Other services	116.3	117.4	118.9	118.8	2.5	2.1
Government	343.1	332.2	340.4	341.3	-1.8	-0.5
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	1,849.1	1,881.2	1,902.9	1,904.6	55.5	3.0
Mining and logging	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.3	-0.1	-2.9
Construction	94.4	97.4	98.3	99.3	4.9	5.2
Manufacturing	118.1	116.2	116.7	116.9	-1.2	-1.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	360.0	370.5	370.4	370.9	10.9	3.0
Information	34.3	34.1	34.7	34.9	0.6	1.7
Financial activities	161.0	164.4	166.0	165.8	4.8	3.0
Professional and business services	303.0	315.0	316.8	314.1	11.1	3.7
Education and health services	265.8	276.8	277.3	277.6	11.8	4.4
Leisure and hospitality	204.7	202.0	205.9	209.2	4.5	2.2
Other services	64.2	68.1	69.3	69.0	4.8	7.5
Government	240.2	233.4	244.2	243.6	3.4	1.4
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,152.7	2,205.0	2,216.7	2,225.6	72.9	3.4
Mining and logging	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.8	-0.1	-11.1
Construction	96.6	100.8	100.8	104.5	7.9	8.2
Manufacturing	119.4	122.3	121.7	123.0	3.6	3.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	348.5	357.7	353.7	354.2	5.7	1.6
Information	76.3	79.6	80.1	80.2	3.9	5.1
Financial activities	126.1	128.1	127.8	127.1	1.0	0.8
Professional and business services	433.8	457.1	462.1	460.3	26.5	6.1
Education and health services	324.8	324.3	328.0	330.3	5.5	1.7
Leisure and hospitality	242.6	246.7	251.3	251.3	8.7	3.6
Other services	81.4	83.4	84.4	85.7	4.3	5.3
Government	302.3	304.2	306.0	308.2	5.9	2.0
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,075.5	3,095.8	3,108.7	3,126.2	50.7	1.6
Mining, logging, and construction	143.2	146.2	145.0	146.4	3.2	2.2
Manufacturing	49.8	49.1	48.9	48.8	-1.0	-2.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	388.7	399.0	395.0	397.5	8.8	2.3
Information	77.1	76.4	75.8	75.3	-1.8	-2.3
Financial activities	151.0	148.3	149.0	149.5	-1.5	-1.0
Professional and business services	696.3	702.0	702.2	709.2	12.9	1.9
Education and health services	404.7	409.1	417.4	417.7	13.0	3.2
Leisure and hospitality	286.6	288.7	288.0	291.8	5.2	1.8
Other services	191.8	191.9	191.8	192.6	0.8	0.4
Government	686.3	685.1	695.6	697.4	11.1	1.6
(p) preliminary