Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,987,000 in June 2015, up 55,700, or 1.9 percent, from one year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 2.1 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. However, the local annual rate of gain has slowed in 2015, falling below the national rate in May 2015.(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

Leisure and hospitality registered the largest annual job gain among Houston’s supersectors, adding 18,800 jobs since June 2014. The local rate of job growth, 6.4 percent, was more than double the national rate of 2.9 percent. Local growth was concentrated within food services and drinking places, which added 15,300 jobs during the period, a 6.5-percent increase. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

The education and health services supersector added 14,300 jobs, a 4.1-percent rise from June 2014; nationally, employment for this industry was up 2.7 percent. Local job gains for this major sector were broad-based, but strongest in ambulatory health care services and hospitals.

Trade, transportation, and utilities–the area’s largest supersector–registered an annual job increase of 12,600, up 2.1 percent from June 2014 to June 2015. The growth was led by a gain of 9,500 jobs in the retail trade industry, an increase of 3.2 percent. The area’s transportation and utilities industry added 1,700 jobs during the period while wholesale trade added 1,400 jobs. The trade, transportation, and utilities supersector expanded 2.0 percent nationally.

The professional and business services supersector gained 10,900 jobs from June 2014, a 2.3-percent rise. Nationwide, this industry registered a 3.5-percent increase from June a year ago.

Government employment expanded by 5,500 jobs over the year, with the local government jurisdiction accounting for nearly all of the increase, up 4,900. Employment gains in local government were led by educational services, which added 4,300 jobs, or 2.3 percent. Locally, total government employment increased 1.5 percent compared to a 0.2-percent gain nationally.

The construction supersector in the Houston area gained 2,400 jobs over the year, reflecting growth in specialty trade contractors and construction of buildings. The total construction sector rose 1.2 percent locally and 4.2 percent nationally.

Two local supersectors experienced annual losses of more than 1,000 jobs from June 2014–manufacturing (-8,300) and financial activities (-1,400). The Houston manufacturing job decline reflected a 5.3-percent loss in durable goods manufacturing and a 1.2-percent gain in non-durable goods manufacturing. Local manufacturing employment fell 3.3 percent compared to a national increase of 1.3 percent. Employment in Houston’s financial activities supersector also declined over the year, down 0.9 percent, compared to the nationwide gain of 2.0 percent.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Houston was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in June 2015. All of these areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with seven exceeding the national average of 2.1 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was registered in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 3.6 percent, followed by Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell (3.1 percent), and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (3.0 percent each). The slowest rates of job growth were in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (1.1 percent) and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin (1.3 percent).(See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York-Newark-Jersey City added the largest number of jobs, 168,900, since June 2014. Two other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Dallas, gained more than 100,000 jobs over the year. Philadelphia and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale added the fewest number of jobs.

Professional and business services led employment growth in 7 of the 12 metropolitan areas from a year ago—Atlanta, Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services recorded the largest gains in four areas—Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.

Over the year, manufacturing recorded the largest job losses in Chicago, Houston, New York, and Phoenix. Boston was the only area that recorded no job losses in any supersector from June 2014 to June 2015.

Metropolitan area employment data for July 2015 are scheduled to be released on Friday, August 21, 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	Jun. 2014	Apr. 2015	May 2015	Jun. 2015(p)	Change from Jun. 2014 to Jun. 2015
					Number	Percent
U.S.
Total nonfarm	139,891	141,437	142,362	142,817	2,926	2.1
Mining and logging	900	852	839	844	-56	-6.2
Construction	6,310	6,254	6,439	6,572	262	4.2
Manufacturing	12,255	12,270	12,314	12,415	160	1.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	26,407	26,571	26,791	26,940	533	2.0
Information	2,738	2,787	2,791	2,798	60	2.2
Financial activities	8,020	8,057	8,093	8,181	161	2.0
Professional and business services	19,207	19,596	19,694	19,878	671	3.5
Education and health services	21,254	22,096	22,049	21,831	577	2.7
Leisure and hospitality	15,343	14,982	15,387	15,781	438	2.9
Other services	5,635	5,629	5,669	5,719	84	1.5
Government	21,822	22,343	22,296	21,858	36	0.2
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,931.3	2,971.6	2,982.7	2,987.0	55.7	1.9
Mining and logging	109.2	110.5	108.1	108.9	-0.3	-0.3
Construction	202.8	206.4	204.4	205.2	2.4	1.2
Manufacturing	255.3	252.1	249.0	247.0	-8.3	-3.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	594.9	602.8	608.3	607.5	12.6	2.1
Information	33.3	34.3	33.8	33.9	0.6	1.8
Financial activities	148.1	146.6	146.0	146.7	-1.4	-0.9
Professional and business services	466.8	464.3	471.2	477.7	10.9	2.3
Education and health services	347.4	362.4	363.2	361.7	14.3	4.1
Leisure and hospitality	294.1	301.2	307.6	312.9	18.8	6.4
Other services	105.5	103.9	104.5	106.1	0.6	0.6
Government	373.9	387.1	386.6	379.4	5.5	1.5
(p) preliminary

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

Area and Industry	Jun. 2014	Apr. 2015	May 2015	Jun. 2015(p)	Change from Jun. 2014 to Jun. 2015
					Number	Percent
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,502.0	2,567.2	2,582.8	2,579.3	77.3	3.1
Mining and logging	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.3	-0.1	-7.1
Construction	101.4	104.5	105.7	105.9	4.5	4.4
Manufacturing	152.8	154.1	153.9	154.9	2.1	1.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	551.3	568.0	569.2	569.0	17.7	3.2
Information	89.4	88.3	88.4	89.4	0.0	0.0
Financial activities	159.6	164.8	164.8	164.6	5.0	3.1
Professional and business services	462.9	473.1	481.0	483.2	20.3	4.4
Education and health services	303.3	316.7	316.5	311.7	8.4	2.8
Leisure and hospitality	265.2	271.5	279.9	278.6	13.4	5.1
Other services	95.4	94.8	94.4	95.5	0.1	0.1
Government	319.3	330.1	327.7	325.2	5.9	1.8
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,613.1	2,620.0	2,644.9	2,665.9	52.8	2.0
Mining, logging, and construction	98.4	94.0	99.3	103.6	5.2	5.3
Manufacturing	193.0	190.2	190.7	193.1	0.1	0.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	415.2	408.7	414.4	418.7	3.5	0.8
Information	76.0	76.1	76.4	77.9	1.9	2.5
Financial activities	174.4	174.1	174.6	177.4	3.0	1.7
Professional and business services	447.3	450.0	454.8	460.7	13.4	3.0
Education and health services	530.9	555.8	552.2	542.0	11.1	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	263.0	245.9	257.1	269.2	6.2	2.4
Other services	103.4	102.2	103.0	105.2	1.8	1.7
Government	311.5	323.0	322.4	318.1	6.6	2.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,557.5	4,529.5	4,584.0	4,618.7	61.2	1.3
Mining and logging	1.6	1.4	1.5	1.5	-0.1	-6.3
Construction	163.3	155.3	163.0	168.4	5.1	3.1
Manufacturing	412.4	405.9	405.7	409.0	-3.4	-0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	910.1	909.4	919.1	926.9	16.8	1.8
Information	81.4	80.0	80.6	81.1	-0.3	-0.4
Financial activities	291.6	284.5	285.5	289.1	-2.5	-0.9
Professional and business services	808.5	806.2	818.2	827.6	19.1	2.4
Education and health services	683.1	701.5	702.1	699.8	16.7	2.4
Leisure and hospitality	456.4	435.4	450.3	460.7	4.3	0.9
Other services	198.2	193.0	194.9	196.2	-2.0	-1.0
Government	550.9	556.9	563.1	558.4	7.5	1.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,283.3	3,369.1	3,377.1	3,401.1	117.8	3.6
Mining, logging, and construction	194.9	198.3	196.4	197.4	2.5	1.3
Manufacturing	263.3	261.0	260.5	262.0	-1.3	-0.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	679.7	700.7	703.0	706.6	26.9	4.0
Information	83.0	81.1	81.2	81.2	-1.8	-2.2
Financial activities	265.7	275.4	276.8	277.3	11.6	4.4
Professional and business services	536.1	557.2	557.3	567.7	31.6	5.9
Education and health services	398.1	415.9	416.5	419.3	21.2	5.3
Leisure and hospitality	343.6	349.7	354.2	362.8	19.2	5.6
Other services	118.5	117.8	117.0	118.2	-0.3	-0.3
Government	400.4	412.0	414.2	408.6	8.2	2.0
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	2,931.3	2,971.6	2,982.7	2,987.0	55.7	1.9
Mining and logging	109.2	110.5	108.1	108.9	-0.3	-0.3
Construction	202.8	206.4	204.4	205.2	2.4	1.2
Manufacturing	255.3	252.1	249.0	247.0	-8.3	-3.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	594.9	602.8	608.3	607.5	12.6	2.1
Information	33.3	34.3	33.8	33.9	0.6	1.8
Financial activities	148.1	146.6	146.0	146.7	-1.4	-0.9
Professional and business services	466.8	464.3	471.2	477.7	10.9	2.3
Education and health services	347.4	362.4	363.2	361.7	14.3	4.1
Leisure and hospitality	294.1	301.2	307.6	312.9	18.8	6.4
Other services	105.5	103.9	104.5	106.1	0.6	0.6
Government	373.9	387.1	386.6	379.4	5.5	1.5
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	5,709.0	5,850.9	5,860.4	5,861.0	152.0	2.7
Mining and logging	5.4	5.1	5.2	5.3	-0.1	-1.9
Construction	201.7	213.7	214.9	216.0	14.3	7.1
Manufacturing	524.6	525.8	526.2	526.9	2.3	0.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,049.9	1,067.8	1,069.9	1,074.8	24.9	2.4
Information	213.2	225.5	216.5	215.4	2.2	1.0
Financial activities	324.2	327.3	326.4	327.6	3.4	1.0
Professional and business services	880.2	899.1	900.9	903.2	23.0	2.6
Education and health services	923.3	971.4	976.1	966.3	43.0	4.7
Leisure and hospitality	666.5	676.5	684.8	688.2	21.7	3.3
Other services	200.7	204.4	207.1	208.7	8.0	4.0
Government	719.3	734.3	732.4	728.6	9.3	1.3
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,395.9	2,499.8	2,502.0	2,467.0	71.1	3.0
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	102.1	105.7	106.2	107.1	5.0	4.9
Manufacturing	80.8	81.8	81.3	81.3	0.5	0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	561.1	576.0	576.9	574.8	13.7	2.4
Information	48.3	48.3	48.6	48.4	0.1	0.2
Financial activities	168.4	174.5	175.6	174.0	5.6	3.3
Professional and business services	387.0	401.8	403.1	403.5	16.5	4.3
Education and health services	353.7	369.2	371.3	365.8	12.1	3.4
Leisure and hospitality	296.2	314.1	311.7	309.5	13.3	4.5
Other services	117.0	121.5	121.1	122.4	5.4	4.6
Government	280.7	306.3	305.6	279.6	-1.1	-0.4
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	9,226.9	9,226.4	9,318.3	9,395.8	168.9	1.8
Mining, logging, and construction	356.1	348.1	362.2	373.5	17.4	4.9
Manufacturing	373.2	366.2	367.8	370.3	-2.9	-0.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,702.4	1,689.0	1,706.3	1,717.1	14.7	0.9
Information	286.4	284.0	283.5	285.8	-0.6	-0.2
Financial activities	763.3	752.1	754.1	765.8	2.5	0.3
Professional and business services	1,447.2	1,443.7	1,454.6	1,469.1	21.9	1.5
Education and health services	1,705.3	1,784.7	1,791.1	1,770.9	65.6	3.8
Leisure and hospitality	886.0	837.5	873.0	916.1	30.1	3.4
Other services	408.6	409.8	418.0	423.5	14.9	3.6
Government	1,298.4	1,311.3	1,307.7	1,303.7	5.3	0.4
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,803.9	2,814.0	2,831.1	2,836.1	32.2	1.1
Mining, logging, and construction	108.6	110.2	115.0	116.3	7.7	7.1
Manufacturing	180.2	178.3	177.9	178.9	-1.3	-0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	516.0	516.8	520.4	523.7	7.7	1.5
Information	46.6	45.5	45.7	45.8	-0.8	-1.7
Financial activities	205.3	205.5	206.3	206.3	1.0	0.5
Professional and business services	451.8	442.2	445.0	447.5	-4.3	-1.0
Education and health services	577.8	603.3	597.4	590.1	12.3	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	258.6	248.9	260.9	269.3	10.7	4.1
Other services	120.5	121.8	122.5	121.9	1.4	1.2
Government	338.5	341.5	340.0	336.3	-2.2	-0.6
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	1,816.0	1,904.3	1,895.0	1,866.8	50.8	2.8
Mining and logging	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.4	0.0	0.0
Construction	96.1	99.6	101.3	102.0	5.9	6.1
Manufacturing	118.6	116.4	116.9	117.3	-1.3	-1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	360.9	368.0	367.7	367.8	6.9	1.9
Information	35.4	35.7	35.4	35.9	0.5	1.4
Financial activities	161.6	165.6	166.6	166.0	4.4	2.7
Professional and business services	306.9	316.0	315.7	318.7	11.8	3.8
Education and health services	263.5	277.7	277.6	276.2	12.7	4.8
Leisure and hospitality	196.2	209.0	206.9	200.7	4.5	2.3
Other services	64.1	68.6	68.2	67.8	3.7	5.8
Government	209.3	244.3	235.3	211.0	1.7	0.8
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,188.6	2,238.7	2,247.3	2,253.3	64.7	3.0
Mining and logging	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.8	-0.1	-11.1
Construction	101.5	105.0	103.8	105.3	3.8	3.7
Manufacturing	121.0	123.8	124.4	124.6	3.6	3.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	352.7	353.5	356.6	359.7	7.0	2.0
Information	78.1	81.2	81.0	81.5	3.4	4.4
Financial activities	128.1	126.3	127.4	127.5	-0.6	-0.5
Professional and business services	440.5	464.8	467.1	470.0	29.5	6.7
Education and health services	323.6	331.2	329.8	326.2	2.6	0.8
Leisure and hospitality	254.3	255.1	259.2	262.4	8.1	3.2
Other services	83.5	86.6	86.1	85.9	2.4	2.9
Government	304.4	310.4	311.1	309.4	5.0	1.6
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,135.9	3,163.0	3,183.2	3,204.4	68.5	2.2
Mining, logging, and construction	152.1	150.5	153.7	153.3	1.2	0.8
Manufacturing	50.6	48.9	48.9	49.3	-1.3	-2.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	398.0	402.4	404.1	407.5	9.5	2.4
Information	77.8	75.6	76.7	78.0	0.2	0.3
Financial activities	153.2	149.9	149.2	150.9	-2.3	-1.5
Professional and business services	709.9	718.6	724.8	734.8	24.9	3.5
Education and health services	394.5	421.2	419.2	413.3	18.8	4.8
Leisure and hospitality	313.8	303.2	310.9	320.4	6.6	2.1
Other services	196.2	194.5	196.1	197.7	1.5	0.8
Government	689.8	698.2	699.6	699.2	9.4	1.4
(p) preliminary