Total nonfarm employment in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 2,958,200 in July 2020, down 188,400, or 6.0 percent, from one year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count dropped 7.7 percent. (See chart 1.) Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that Houston ranked fourth among the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the country, as 8 of the 12 areas had greater percentage losses. (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

In the Houston metropolitan area, the leisure and hospitality supersector had the largest employment decline, losing 60,500 jobs from July a year ago. Within the supersector, food services and drinking places had the largest decline, losing 39,500 jobs over the year. The accommodation industry also had a large loss over the year, down 8,000 jobs. The local 17.8-percent rate of job loss in leisure and hospitality compared to the 24.2-percent national decline. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Houston’s second-largest employment loss occurred in the manufacturing supersector, down 21,800 jobs from July 2019 to July 2020. Local job losses were concentrated in durable goods manufacturing, but non-durable goods manufacturing also lost jobs, down 17,600 and 4,200, respectively. The local 9.2-percent rate of job loss in manufacturing compared to the 5.7-percent U.S. decline.

Employment in Houston’s largest supersector–trade, transportation, and utilities–fell by 21,100 jobs over the year. Locally, employment declined in two of the three sub-sectors: wholesale trade (-11,300) and retail trade (-10,300). The largest industry decrease among these sectors occurred in clothing and clothing accessories stores, down 1,200. Despite the overall retail trade employment decline, several local industries had job gains, notably general merchandise stores, including warehouse clubs and supercenters (+2,000), building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (+1,700), and food and beverage stores (+1,300). Locally, the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector’s rate of job loss was 3.4 percent, compared to a 5.7-percent loss nationally.

The mining and logging supersector in Houston lost 19,300 jobs over the year, with the majority of the losses in the support activities for mining industry (-14,400). Employment in the mining and logging supersector fell 24.2 percent over the year. Nationally, the rate of job loss was 15.3 percent.

Employment in construction fell 19,100 in the Houston area from July 2019 to July 2020. The majority of job losses occurred within specialty trade contractors, which fell 14,100. Area employment in the construction supersector declined 8.1 percent, compared to the 4.3-percent national decline.

Houston’s government supersector lost 18,000 jobs from July a year ago. Employment declines in state government educational services accounted for about half of the losses (-9,200). Employment in the government supersector fell 4.5 percent, both locally and nationally.

The other services supersector (which includes repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, membership associations, and private households) lost 15,400 jobs in the local area since July 2019. The rates of job loss in Houston and the U.S. were 13.3 percent and 10.0 percent, respectively.

Local employment losses were smaller in the four remaining supersectors: education and health service(-3,700), information (-3,500), professional and business services (-3,200), and financial activities (-2,800).

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in July 2020. All 12 areas had over-the-year job losses during the period, with the rates of job loss in 6 areas exceeding the national decrease of 7.7 percent. New York-Newark-Jersey City had the fastest rate of job loss (-13.6 percent), followed by Boston-Cambridge-Nashua (-12.1 percent). Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale had the slowest rate of job loss, down 3.5 percent, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (-4.0 percent). (See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York lost the largest number of jobs over the year (-1,354,700), followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (-628,000). The smallest employment loss occurred in Phoenix (-74,000). Annual losses in the remaining nine metropolitan areas ranged from 396,000 in Chicago-Naperville-Elgin to 135,000 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell.

Over the year, leisure and hospitality lost the most jobs in all 12 metropolitan areas. New York had the largest loss of jobs for this sector (-439,800), followed by Los Angeles (-242,500). Atlanta and Phoenix recorded the smallest job losses for the leisure and hospitality sector (-48,300 each). The remaining eight areas had job losses ranging from 138,000 in Chicago to 60,500 in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land for this industry sector.

Phoenix had over-the-year employment gains in three sectors: trade, transportation, and utilities (5,900); education and health services (4,300); and other services (1,000). Dallas added 10,700 jobs in financial activities. No other area had job gains over 1,000.

Metropolitan area employment data for August 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, September 18, 2020, 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 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.

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 for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.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 down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/publications/benchmark-article/annual-benchmark-article.pdf

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties.

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. Detailed industry employment data for metropolitan areas from the CES program are available from the State and Area Employment databases at www.bls.gov/sae/data/.

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	Jul. 2019	May 2020	Jun. 2020	Jul. 2020(p)	Jul. 2019 to Jul. 2020(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	150,699	133,432	138,509	139,100	-11,599	-7.7
Mining and logging	746	631	631	632	-114	-15.3
Construction	7,753	7,076	7,365	7,419	-334	-4.3
Manufacturing	12,919	11,697	12,163	12,185	-734	-5.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,671	24,765	25,851	26,094	-1,577	-5.7
Information	2,883	2,562	2,585	2,578	-305	-10.6
Financial activities	8,836	8,564	8,648	8,697	-139	-1.6
Professional and business services	21,456	19,396	19,844	20,024	-1,432	-6.7
Education and health services	23,863	22,231	22,556	22,641	-1,222	-5.1
Leisure and hospitality	17,289	10,109	12,440	13,111	-4,178	-24.2
Other services	5,979	4,835	5,229	5,382	-597	-10.0
Government	21,304	21,566	21,197	20,337	-967	-4.5
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	3,146.6	2,931.9	2,980.4	2,958.2	-188.4	-6.0
Mining and logging	79.9	61.9	61.5	60.6	-19.3	-24.2
Construction	236.4	220.2	218.7	217.3	-19.1	-8.1
Manufacturing	237.9	222.4	219.7	216.1	-21.8	-9.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	626.0	600.5	607.6	604.9	-21.1	-3.4
Information	32.9	29.5	29.6	29.4	-3.5	-10.6
Financial activities	167.6	163.3	164.5	164.8	-2.8	-1.7
Professional and business services	509.4	486.5	500.8	506.2	-3.2	-0.6
Education and health services	401.1	389.7	395.7	397.4	-3.7	-0.9
Leisure and hospitality	340.1	256.8	285.0	279.6	-60.5	-17.8
Other services	116.2	92.1	98.7	100.8	-15.4	-13.3
Government	399.1	409.0	398.6	381.1	-18.0	-4.5
(p) preliminary

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

Area and Industry	Jul. 2019	May 2020	Jun. 2020	Jul. 2020(p)	Jul. 2019 to Jul. 2020(p)
					Net change	Percent change
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,838.2	2,600.3	2,687.9	2,703.2	-135.0	-4.8
Mining and logging	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5	-0.1	-6.3
Construction	130.9	126.3	127.8	127.1	-3.8	-2.9
Manufacturing	172.8	153.1	159.7	161.0	-11.8	-6.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	599.7	575.0	588.0	588.0	-11.7	-2.0
Information	101.2	90.3	91.2	91.6	-9.6	-9.5
Financial activities	179.1	172.5	174.1	172.4	-6.7	-3.7
Professional and business services	548.9	504.1	515.9	516.7	-32.2	-5.9
Education and health services	365.2	357.3	362.5	363.9	-1.3	-0.4
Leisure and hospitality	311.9	207.3	250.6	263.6	-48.3	-15.5
Other services	105.3	88.0	94.4	96.0	-9.3	-8.8
Government	321.6	324.8	322.2	321.4	-0.2	-0.1
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,826.4	2,360.9	2,446.4	2,485.3	-341.1	-12.1
Mining, logging, and construction	127.3	90.4	106.4	110.9	-16.4	-12.9
Manufacturing	189.9	172.6	175.4	176.3	-13.6	-7.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	426.2	341.1	364.0	373.6	-52.6	-12.3
Information	83.9	80.3	79.5	80.4	-3.5	-4.2
Financial activities	190.9	183.3	185.5	186.0	-4.9	-2.6
Professional and business services	525.8	482.0	490.7	494.0	-31.8	-6.0
Education and health services	582.3	527.0	525.0	531.5	-50.8	-8.7
Leisure and hospitality	297.2	120.4	157.6	184.2	-113.0	-38.0
Other services	108.8	65.6	70.9	76.8	-32.0	-29.4
Government	294.1	298.2	291.4	271.6	-22.5	-7.7
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,796.4	4,203.2	4,344.8	4,400.4	-396.0	-8.3
Mining and logging	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.6	-0.3	-15.8
Construction	190.4	171.0	179.0	181.8	-8.6	-4.5
Manufacturing	422.1	389.1	402.4	400.6	-21.5	-5.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	949.5	860.4	893.2	898.7	-50.8	-5.4
Information	78.5	75.6	75.7	75.4	-3.1	-3.9
Financial activities	322.9	308.8	311.2	313.0	-9.9	-3.1
Professional and business services	848.0	762.9	778.7	789.2	-58.8	-6.9
Education and health services	725.1	681.6	690.3	692.1	-33.0	-4.6
Leisure and hospitality	517.8	272.5	329.1	379.8	-138.0	-26.7
Other services	201.6	162.8	179.5	180.2	-21.4	-10.6
Government	538.6	516.7	504.0	488.0	-50.6	-9.4
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,780.6	3,542.7	3,642.0	3,629.1	-151.5	-4.0
Mining, logging, and construction	230.0	223.9	229.8	230.0	0.0	0.0
Manufacturing	290.8	278.4	280.0	280.2	-10.6	-3.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	792.5	764.4	782.8	779.8	-12.7	-1.6
Information	82.1	80.0	80.1	79.3	-2.8	-3.4
Financial activities	320.8	324.5	328.5	331.5	10.7	3.3
Professional and business services	645.6	608.8	626.4	631.6	-14.0	-2.2
Education and health services	459.9	426.7	431.4	427.6	-32.3	-7.0
Leisure and hospitality	403.6	284.6	334.0	328.6	-75.0	-18.6
Other services	130.2	115.4	121.2	118.8	-11.4	-8.8
Government	425.1	436.0	427.8	421.7	-3.4	-0.8
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	3,146.6	2,931.9	2,980.4	2,958.2	-188.4	-6.0
Mining and logging	79.9	61.9	61.5	60.6	-19.3	-24.2
Construction	236.4	220.2	218.7	217.3	-19.1	-8.1
Manufacturing	237.9	222.4	219.7	216.1	-21.8	-9.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	626.0	600.5	607.6	604.9	-21.1	-3.4
Information	32.9	29.5	29.6	29.4	-3.5	-10.6
Financial activities	167.6	163.3	164.5	164.8	-2.8	-1.7
Professional and business services	509.4	486.5	500.8	506.2	-3.2	-0.6
Education and health services	401.1	389.7	395.7	397.4	-3.7	-0.9
Leisure and hospitality	340.1	256.8	285.0	279.6	-60.5	-17.8
Other services	116.2	92.1	98.7	100.8	-15.4	-13.3
Government	399.1	409.0	398.6	381.1	-18.0	-4.5
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	6,186.0	5,366.8	5,579.3	5,558.0	-628.0	-10.2
Mining and logging	2.5	2.3	2.3	2.3	-0.2	-8.0
Construction	259.9	244.5	251.4	249.1	-10.8	-4.2
Manufacturing	500.3	443.6	457.1	458.5	-41.8	-8.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,105.9	969.5	1,010.4	1,025.5	-80.4	-7.3
Information	229.4	196.1	200.2	201.9	-27.5	-12.0
Financial activities	343.1	330.1	331.4	337.3	-5.8	-1.7
Professional and business services	973.0	864.5	888.1	897.2	-75.8	-7.8
Education and health services	1,061.9	994.8	1,014.1	1,013.6	-48.3	-4.5
Leisure and hospitality	783.2	436.8	542.1	540.7	-242.5	-31.0
Other services	211.5	149.5	160.2	166.5	-45.0	-21.3
Government	715.3	735.1	722.0	665.4	-49.9	-7.0
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,678.9	2,427.8	2,493.0	2,476.4	-202.5	-7.6
Mining and logging	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.1	14.3
Construction	142.8	138.7	142.0	139.9	-2.9	-2.0
Manufacturing	91.4	83.2	84.5	85.6	-5.8	-6.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	609.4	556.7	573.8	576.8	-32.6	-5.3
Information	50.5	47.8	48.0	47.0	-3.5	-6.9
Financial activities	189.1	187.3	189.2	189.9	0.8	0.4
Professional and business services	451.7	409.7	420.2	420.4	-31.3	-6.9
Education and health services	402.0	379.8	381.7	376.1	-25.9	-6.4
Leisure and hospitality	326.3	210.8	254.9	241.1	-85.2	-26.1
Other services	120.5	101.7	108.1	110.6	-9.9	-8.2
Government	294.5	311.3	289.8	288.2	-6.3	-2.1
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	9,980.6	8,181.0	8,508.1	8,625.9	-1,354.7	-13.6
Mining, logging, and construction	428.6	308.6	359.2	377.6	-51.0	-11.9
Manufacturing	361.4	311.5	324.4	325.8	-35.6	-9.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,722.4	1,379.9	1,461.7	1,522.4	-200.0	-11.6
Information	297.9	273.3	277.0	278.6	-19.3	-6.5
Financial activities	802.2	745.4	746.8	751.4	-50.8	-6.3
Professional and business services	1,630.4	1,402.2	1,426.1	1,445.4	-185.0	-11.3
Education and health services	2,003.6	1,809.9	1,839.8	1,852.7	-150.9	-7.5
Leisure and hospitality	1,002.4	373.6	475.4	562.6	-439.8	-43.9
Other services	430.5	298.0	322.6	359.3	-71.2	-16.5
Government	1,301.2	1,278.6	1,275.1	1,150.1	-151.1	-11.6
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,961.9	2,587.0	2,680.1	2,707.0	-254.9	-8.6
Mining, logging, and construction	123.9	100.1	106.4	107.6	-16.3	-13.2
Manufacturing	185.3	172.8	176.8	176.1	-9.2	-5.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	525.4	459.7	481.0	486.0	-39.4	-7.5
Information	50.2	46.5	46.9	47.2	-3.0	-6.0
Financial activities	219.5	210.6	210.3	212.1	-7.4	-3.4
Professional and business services	473.7	437.1	446.4	448.3	-25.4	-5.4
Education and health services	650.4	605.3	618.4	616.8	-33.6	-5.2
Leisure and hospitality	291.6	135.2	169.2	194.4	-97.2	-33.3
Other services	124.6	85.3	95.5	108.7	-15.9	-12.8
Government	317.3	334.4	329.2	309.8	-7.5	-2.4
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	2,123.5	2,043.8	2,060.7	2,049.5	-74.0	-3.5
Mining and logging	3.6	3.7	3.6	3.6	0.0	0.0
Construction	136.2	133.6	133.4	132.2	-4.0	-2.9
Manufacturing	134.0	127.5	130.5	129.9	-4.1	-3.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	403.4	399.8	407.7	409.3	5.9	1.5
Information	40.6	37.4	37.8	38.1	-2.5	-6.2
Financial activities	202.9	201.4	203.4	202.7	-0.2	-0.1
Professional and business services	368.2	339.5	341.9	342.4	-25.8	-7.0
Education and health services	327.5	324.9	330.4	331.8	4.3	1.3
Leisure and hospitality	224.8	167.3	189.4	176.5	-48.3	-21.5
Other services	70.5	68.2	71.6	71.5	1.0	1.4
Government	211.8	240.5	211.0	211.5	-0.3	-0.1
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,484.3	2,128.3	2,199.8	2,206.7	-277.6	-11.2
Mining and logging	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0
Construction	130.6	108.5	115.9	114.9	-15.7	-12.0
Manufacturing	144.1	122.7	125.4	126.6	-17.5	-12.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	372.5	317.2	328.5	336.3	-36.2	-9.7
Information	130.5	117.7	119.9	121.3	-9.2	-7.0
Financial activities	148.6	144.0	146.2	146.6	-2.0	-1.3
Professional and business services	507.6	474.5	480.9	483.2	-24.4	-4.8
Education and health services	360.8	329.6	333.7	335.0	-25.8	-7.2
Leisure and hospitality	287.9	144.7	181.5	186.6	-101.3	-35.2
Other services	90.5	64.5	68.5	71.4	-19.1	-21.1
Government	310.9	304.6	299.0	284.5	-26.4	-8.5
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,371.8	3,038.1	3,119.2	3,127.0	-244.8	-7.3
Mining, logging, and construction	167.9	157.5	162.9	165.8	-2.1	-1.3
Manufacturing	57.4	53.8	54.4	54.4	-3.0	-5.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	408.0	363.0	374.6	381.2	-26.8	-6.6
Information	77.7	73.6	73.2	73.9	-3.8	-4.9
Financial activities	162.5	159.3	158.1	157.7	-4.8	-3.0
Professional and business services	789.8	755.3	764.6	768.7	-21.1	-2.7
Education and health services	442.7	399.5	408.0	405.7	-37.0	-8.4
Leisure and hospitality	352.1	185.5	223.4	246.3	-105.8	-30.0
Other services	213.8	196.0	203.5	204.0	-9.8	-4.6
Government	699.9	694.6	696.5	669.3	-30.6	-4.4
(p) preliminary