Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,993,500 in April 2016, up 10,000, or 0.3 percent, from one year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.9 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

Leisure and hospitality had the largest annual job gain among Houston’s supersectors, adding 18,600 jobs since April 2015. The 6.2-percent local rate of job growth in this supersector was more than double the national rate of 2.9 percent. (See table 1 and chart 2.) The local industry’s job gains were concentrated in food services and drinking places, which added 15,700 jobs during the period.

The education and health services supersector added 17,000 jobs, a 4.7-percent rise from April 2015; nationally, employment in this industry rose 3.1 percent. Local job gains for this sector were mainly in ambulatory health care services and hospitals.

Government employment expanded by 7,800 jobs over the year, with local government accounting for nearly all of the increase, up 7,000. Employment gains in local government were led by educational services, which added 6,100 jobs. In the Houston area, total government employment increased 2.0 percent compared to a 0.4-percent gain nationally.

Trade, transportation, and utilities–the area’s largest supersector–added 6,300 jobs, up 1.0 percent from April 2015 to April 2016. The area’s retail trade industry gained 10,400 jobs, an increase of 3.5 percent. Nationally, the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector expanded 1.8 percent.

Two other local supersectors had employment gains of at least 1,300 from April 2015: construction (+5,500) and financial activities (+1,300). The construction sector job gains were led by heavy and civil engineering construction, which added 5,700 jobs, an increase of 12.0 percent. Houston’s total construction sector rose 2.6 percent compared to the national gain of 4.2 percent. The financial activities sector rose 0.9 percent locally and 2.0 percent nationally.

Manufacturing had the largest job loss among Houston supersectors between April 2015 and April 2016, declining 18,500. Locally, manufacturing employment fell 7.4 percent compared to a 0.2-percent decline nationally.

Two other Houston area supersectors had job losses of more than 12,500 from the previous year – mining and logging (-14,100) and professional and business services (-12,600). Local mining and logging employment fell 13.8 percent from April 2015, compared to the national decrease of 16.7 percent. Houston’s professional and business services supersector declined 2.7 percent, in contrast to the national gain of 3.1 percent.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Houston was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in April 2016. All 12 areas experienced over-the-year job growth during the period, with 8 exceeding the national average of 1.9 percent. The fastest rate of job growth was in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 3.9 percent. The slowest rate of job growth was in Houston (0.3 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Since April 2015, the New York-Newark-Jersey City area added the largest number of jobs, 173,900. Employment in both Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Dallas also increased by over 130,000. Houston experienced the smallest employment gain over the year, adding 10,000 jobs, followed by Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, up 43,900 jobs.

Professional and business services had the largest employment gains in 6 of the 12 metropolitan areas from April a year ago—Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services added the most jobs in three areas—Boston, Los Angeles, and New York.

Four areas experienced no annual job losses in any supersector—Atlanta, Miami, New York and Philadelphia. Manufacturing had the largest over-the-year losses in Boston, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles.

Metropolitan area employment data for May 2016 are scheduled to be released on Friday, June 17, 2016, 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 2012 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 standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated February 28, 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available 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, United States and Houston metropolitan area, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Apr. 2015	Feb. 2016	Mar. 2016	Apr. 2016(p)	Change from Apr. 2015 to Apr. 2016(p)
					Net Change	Percent Change
United States
Total nonfarm	141,286	141,992	142,887	143,944	2,658	1.9
Mining and logging	834	718	704	695	-139	-16.7
Construction	6,296	6,213	6,349	6,558	262	4.2
Manufacturing	12,261	12,238	12,229	12,241	-20	-0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	26,570	26,827	26,962	27,047	477	1.8
Information	2,743	2,764	2,777	2,782	39	1.4
Financial activities	8,049	8,158	8,182	8,209	160	2.0
Professional and business services	19,491	19,724	19,829	20,090	599	3.1
Education and health services	22,091	22,581	22,671	22,767	676	3.1
Leisure and hospitality	14,938	14,795	15,040	15,376	438	2.9
Other services	5,610	5,626	5,655	5,684	74	1.3
Government	22,403	22,348	22,489	22,495	92	0.4
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	2,983.5	2,983.2	2,987.5	2,993.5	10.0	0.3
Mining and logging	102.3	90.1	90.5	88.2	-14.1	-13.8
Construction	214.4	220.7	219.0	219.9	5.5	2.6
Manufacturing	250.8	234.5	234.7	232.3	-18.5	-7.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	606.3	609.1	610.7	612.6	6.3	1.0
Information	32.4	31.9	31.0	31.7	-0.7	-2.2
Financial activities	150.5	151.6	152.2	151.8	1.3	0.9
Professional and business services	471.7	459.7	459.5	459.1	-12.6	-2.7
Education and health services	364.9	378.4	377.3	381.9	17.0	4.7
Leisure and hospitality	298.3	309.3	312.9	316.9	18.6	6.2
Other services	106.3	105.6	105.7	105.7	-0.6	-0.6
Government	385.6	392.3	394.0	393.4	7.8	2.0
(p) preliminary

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

Area and Industry	Apr. 2015	Feb. 2016	Mar. 2016	Apr. 2016(p)	Change from Apr. 2015 to Apr. 2016(p)
					Net Change	Percent Change
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,563.4	2,611.2	2,625.2	2,646.7	83.3	3.2
Mining and logging	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.5	0.1	7.1
Construction	106.7	112.4	112.5	113.8	7.1	6.7
Manufacturing	155.7	160.2	161.0	162.2	6.5	4.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	571.9	586.7	589.4	591.5	19.6	3.4
Information	88.0	86.2	86.1	88.0	0.0	0.0
Financial activities	161.6	161.9	162.0	162.3	0.7	0.4
Professional and business services	471.2	483.8	484.8	492.1	20.9	4.4
Education and health services	316.8	322.6	325.9	325.9	9.1	2.9
Leisure and hospitality	268.7	271.6	275.0	283.0	14.3	5.3
Other services	96.3	96.3	96.9	97.1	0.8	0.8
Government	325.1	328.0	330.1	329.3	4.2	1.3
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,638.9	2,625.6	2,643.5	2,682.8	43.9	1.7
Mining, logging, and construction	98.6	99.5	101.1	107.5	8.9	9.0
Manufacturing	192.0	188.7	188.4	188.7	-3.3	-1.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	411.3	410.3	413.2	417.1	5.8	1.4
Information	76.7	76.9	77.0	77.9	1.2	1.6
Financial activities	179.0	184.1	183.9	185.1	6.1	3.4
Professional and business services	451.2	446.1	448.2	460.2	9.0	2.0
Education and health services	560.7	568.6	572.6	574.3	13.6	2.4
Leisure and hospitality	250.0	236.0	240.5	251.0	1.0	0.4
Other services	99.9	100.1	102.4	103.7	3.8	3.8
Government	319.5	315.3	316.2	317.3	-2.2	-0.7
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,550.1	4,542.2	4,573.3	4,624.1	74.0	1.6
Mining and logging	1.6	1.2	1.3	1.4	-0.2	-12.5
Construction	161.1	149.5	156.2	166.5	5.4	3.4
Manufacturing	411.6	411.0	411.0	412.2	0.6	0.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	915.2	920.2	924.1	928.6	13.4	1.5
Information	80.4	80.7	80.7	81.0	0.6	0.7
Financial activities	290.1	290.2	292.3	290.2	0.1	0.0
Professional and business services	800.1	783.5	787.8	809.9	9.8	1.2
Education and health services	700.7	712.9	711.9	715.2	14.5	2.1
Leisure and hospitality	444.0	440.3	451.1	462.1	18.1	4.1
Other services	193.4	194.9	195.2	194.0	0.6	0.3
Government	551.9	557.8	561.7	563.0	11.1	2.0
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,367.6	3,451.4	3,465.5	3,498.2	130.6	3.9
Mining, logging, and construction	197.6	196.8	197.1	202.1	4.5	2.3
Manufacturing	263.0	260.1	260.4	261.2	-1.8	-0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	708.9	740.4	744.9	748.0	39.1	5.5
Information	79.9	80.6	80.3	79.6	-0.3	-0.4
Financial activities	273.3	283.2	283.8	287.2	13.9	5.1
Professional and business services	554.2	566.5	567.8	573.7	19.5	3.5
Education and health services	413.2	425.3	427.1	431.4	18.2	4.4
Leisure and hospitality	347.4	359.4	363.5	371.7	24.3	7.0
Other services	118.6	117.3	118.2	120.4	1.8	1.5
Government	411.5	421.8	422.4	422.9	11.4	2.8
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	2,983.5	2,983.2	2,987.5	2,993.5	10.0	0.3
Mining and logging	102.3	90.1	90.5	88.2	-14.1	-13.8
Construction	214.4	220.7	219.0	219.9	5.5	2.6
Manufacturing	250.8	234.5	234.7	232.3	-18.5	-7.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	606.3	609.1	610.7	612.6	6.3	1.0
Information	32.4	31.9	31.0	31.7	-0.7	-2.2
Financial activities	150.5	151.6	152.2	151.8	1.3	0.9
Professional and business services	471.7	459.7	459.5	459.1	-12.6	-2.7
Education and health services	364.9	378.4	377.3	381.9	17.0	4.7
Leisure and hospitality	298.3	309.3	312.9	316.9	18.6	6.2
Other services	106.3	105.6	105.7	105.7	-0.6	-0.6
Government	385.6	392.3	394.0	393.4	7.8	2.0
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	5,787.7	5,890.9	5,917.2	5,942.7	155.0	2.7
Mining and logging	4.7	4.2	4.1	4.1	-0.6	-12.8
Construction	211.0	225.0	225.7	230.4	19.4	9.2
Manufacturing	518.3	510.0	511.9	511.3	-7.0	-1.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,061.3	1,077.7	1,079.1	1,082.9	21.6	2.0
Information	229.0	235.7	237.5	240.8	11.8	5.2
Financial activities	328.9	332.3	333.6	335.1	6.2	1.9
Professional and business services	877.9	893.4	896.7	901.8	23.9	2.7
Education and health services	938.2	975.3	980.3	982.2	44.0	4.7
Leisure and hospitality	685.4	698.7	703.4	708.2	22.8	3.3
Other services	199.7	200.5	200.9	202.3	2.6	1.3
Government	733.3	738.1	744.0	743.6	10.3	1.4
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,502.1	2,556.1	2,561.7	2,570.1	68.0	2.7
Mining and logging	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	109.1	116.1	117.0	119.1	10.0	9.2
Manufacturing	83.5	85.7	85.6	84.9	1.4	1.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	580.6	591.0	591.1	591.7	11.1	1.9
Information	47.6	48.0	48.2	48.1	0.5	1.1
Financial activities	173.2	180.3	181.2	182.5	9.3	5.4
Professional and business services	401.2	411.6	411.7	413.4	12.2	3.0
Education and health services	366.4	374.8	374.7	376.6	10.2	2.8
Leisure and hospitality	311.4	316.9	319.1	320.4	9.0	2.9
Other services	121.2	123.4	124.0	124.0	2.8	2.3
Government	307.3	307.7	308.5	308.8	1.5	0.5
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	9,285.8	9,294.6	9,380.5	9,459.7	173.9	1.9
Mining, logging, and construction	362.9	353.6	369.2	381.1	18.2	5.0
Manufacturing	365.8	369.6	369.0	369.5	3.7	1.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,694.9	1,695.3	1,698.4	1,707.5	12.6	0.7
Information	282.4	287.1	287.4	285.5	3.1	1.1
Financial activities	755.8	762.7	765.4	766.8	11.0	1.5
Professional and business services	1,472.2	1,468.1	1,484.4	1,496.8	24.6	1.7
Education and health services	1,788.6	1,815.7	1,836.7	1,843.4	54.8	3.1
Leisure and hospitality	848.0	822.8	840.6	868.7	20.7	2.4
Other services	408.2	413.4	415.9	420.2	12.0	2.9
Government	1,307.0	1,306.3	1,313.5	1,320.2	13.2	1.0
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,818.6	2,828.2	2,854.2	2,881.8	63.2	2.2
Mining, logging, and construction	109.0	105.0	108.2	113.1	4.1	3.8
Manufacturing	180.8	181.0	182.2	182.7	1.9	1.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	511.7	514.5	519.6	522.3	10.6	2.1
Information	46.1	46.3	46.3	46.5	0.4	0.9
Financial activities	206.9	209.4	209.4	209.0	2.1	1.0
Professional and business services	446.5	452.0	457.0	463.1	16.6	3.7
Education and health services	608.9	620.4	620.2	623.0	14.1	2.3
Leisure and hospitality	249.8	239.0	248.4	258.5	8.7	3.5
Other services	117.0	118.1	118.6	119.5	2.5	2.1
Government	341.9	342.5	344.3	344.1	2.2	0.6
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	1,909.3	1,963.3	1,970.9	1,978.1	68.8	3.6
Mining and logging	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.0
Construction	97.4	103.0	105.0	104.6	7.2	7.4
Manufacturing	118.7	119.6	120.1	118.3	-0.4	-0.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	370.7	382.0	382.2	383.3	12.6	3.4
Information	36.4	38.2	38.3	39.2	2.8	7.7
Financial activities	165.0	174.2	175.1	175.4	10.4	6.3
Professional and business services	318.3	331.4	329.6	335.6	17.3	5.4
Education and health services	279.5	291.1	291.6	291.8	12.3	4.4
Leisure and hospitality	212.4	212.5	217.2	216.9	4.5	2.1
Other services	65.2	66.3	67.0	66.6	1.4	2.1
Government	242.4	241.7	241.5	243.1	0.7	0.3
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,238.9	2,285.2	2,297.3	2,310.2	71.3	3.2
Mining and logging	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9	-0.1	-10.0
Construction	106.2	113.2	114.6	117.1	10.9	10.3
Manufacturing	124.2	126.6	126.7	127.3	3.1	2.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	358.8	370.4	370.6	367.8	9.0	2.5
Information	83.0	85.8	86.3	86.1	3.1	3.7
Financial activities	128.1	128.5	129.1	129.4	1.3	1.0
Professional and business services	457.8	470.5	472.5	475.6	17.8	3.9
Education and health services	328.1	339.3	341.2	340.4	12.3	3.7
Leisure and hospitality	256.0	255.7	257.5	265.8	9.8	3.8
Other services	83.4	82.6	83.4	84.0	0.6	0.7
Government	312.3	311.7	314.5	315.8	3.5	1.1
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,160.6	3,179.6	3,206.6	3,232.3	71.7	2.3
Mining, logging, and construction	148.1	149.3	156.1	158.9	10.8	7.3
Manufacturing	52.6	52.2	52.4	52.5	-0.1	-0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	396.1	401.7	405.9	410.5	14.4	3.6
Information	77.2	75.4	75.2	75.1	-2.1	-2.7
Financial activities	152.6	154.1	154.3	154.7	2.1	1.4
Professional and business services	718.8	722.4	730.1	735.7	16.9	2.4
Education and health services	417.6	422.7	423.4	424.7	7.1	1.7
Leisure and hospitality	305.8	304.1	310.4	320.5	14.7	4.8
Other services	196.3	197.6	199.2	199.4	3.1	1.6
Government	695.5	700.1	699.6	700.3	4.8	0.7
(p) preliminary