Total nonfarm employment in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area decreased by 142,900 over the year in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that the local rate of job loss, 3.7 percent, compared to the 5.9-percent national decline. (See chart 1.) This was the 11^th consecutive month of over-the-year declines locally. (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.)

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of two metropolitan divisions – separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. Both divisions posted employment declines over the year. The Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Division, with 71 percent of the area’s total nonfarm employment, lost 93,700 jobs since February 2020, a decrease of 3.4 percent. The Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division, which accounted for the remaining 29 percent of the area’s workforce, lost 49,200 jobs during the period, a decline of 4.5 percent.

Industry employment

In the greater Dallas metropolitan area, leisure and hospitality had the largest loss, down 63,900, with the accommodation and food services sector accounting for 52,600 lost jobs. (See chart 2.) The 16.1-percent rate of job decline in the local leisure and hospitality supersector compared to the 20.0-percent national loss.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington’s professional and business services supersector lost 22,400 jobs from February 2020 to February 2021. A loss of 16,300 jobs in the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector in Dallas-Plano-Irving accounted for the majority of the decline. The professional and business services supersector had a 3.4-percent rate of job decline in Dallas, which compared to the national decrease of 3.3 percent.

Employment in education and health services fell by 18,800 in the local area from February a year ago. The Dallas-Plano-Irving metropolitan division lost 12,500 jobs and the Fort Worth-Arlington division lost 6,300 jobs. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington’s 4.0-percent annual decrease in education and health services jobs compared to the U.S. loss of 5.2 percent.

Other services employment lost 14,400 jobs over the year in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington. The Dallas-Plano-Irving division was responsible for most of that loss (-10,900). The local 11.2-percent rate of loss in other services jobs compared to the national decrease of 7.3 percent.

Manufacturing employment fell by 9,300 over the year in the local area. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area had a 3.2-percent rate of decrease in manufacturing jobs compared to the national decrease of 4.2 percent.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Dallas was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in February 2021. All 12 areas lost jobs over the year. New York-Newark-Jersey City had the largest decline (-1,113,600). Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale had the smallest loss (-79,600) among the largest areas. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim had an 11.7-percent rate of job loss, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward (-11.3 percent) and New York (-11.2 percent). The rates of job losses in the remaining nine areas ranged from 9.1 percent in Boston-Cambridge-Nashua to 3.6 percent in Phoenix.

Metropolitan area employment and unemployment data for March 2021 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 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 which 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 at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/ces-20110307.pdf.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which 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. 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. Measures of sampling error for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.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 at the supersector level and for the private service-providing, goods-producing, total private and total nonfarm levels are available on the BLS website at https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/bmrk_article.htm.

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.

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.

The Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Division includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall Counties in Texas.

The Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division includes Hood, Johnson, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant, and Wise Counties in Texas.

Additional information

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area and its components, not seasonally adjusted (numbers in thousands)

Area and Industry	Feb. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021(p)	Feb. 2020 to Feb. 2021(p)
					Net change	Percent change
United States
Total nonfarm	150,968	143,602	140,980	142,077	-8,891	-5.9
Mining and logging	675	602	593	584	-91	-13.5
Construction	7,278	7,312	7,067	7,006	-272	-3.7
Manufacturing	12,727	12,251	12,142	12,188	-539	-4.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	27,504	27,799	26,957	26,805	-699	-2.5
Information	2,894	2,668	2,648	2,670	-224	-7.7
Financial activities	8,820	8,788	8,733	8,734	-86	-1.0
Professional and business services	21,134	20,638	20,291	20,442	-692	-3.3
Education and health services	24,668	23,400	23,105	23,393	-1,275	-5.2
Leisure and hospitality	16,292	12,896	12,576	13,037	-3,255	-20.0
Other services	5,882	5,448	5,415	5,453	-429	-7.3
Government	23,094	21,800	21,453	21,765	-1,329	-5.8
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area
Total nonfarm	3,838.8	3,755.0	3,701.8	3,695.9	-142.9	-3.7
Mining, logging, and construction	225.6	219.3	216.4	214.9	-10.7	-4.7
Manufacturing	291.0	281.0	280.8	281.7	-9.3	-3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	801.1	837.1	810.5	808.6	7.5	0.9
Information	83.1	78.9	79.1	79.1	-4.0	-4.8
Financial activities	325.8	328.4	326.4	326.6	0.8	0.2
Professional and business services	655.4	646.0	645.2	633.0	-22.4	-3.4
Education and health services	470.6	454.1	449.6	451.8	-18.8	-4.0
Leisure and hospitality	396.1	338.4	330.8	332.2	-63.9	-16.1
Other services	128.6	114.6	114.0	114.2	-14.4	-11.2
Government	461.5	457.2	449.0	453.8	-7.7	-1.7
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	2,735.4	2,677.1	2,640.9	2,641.7	-93.7	-3.4
Mining, logging, and construction	149.8	146.0	143.4	143.9	-5.9	-3.9
Manufacturing	187.1	181.6	182.1	181.9	-5.2	-2.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	532.9	558.4	540.8	541.5	8.6	1.6
Information	72.4	69.4	69.6	69.6	-2.8	-3.9
Financial activities	257.2	260.2	258.8	259.5	2.3	0.9
Professional and business services	531.7	521.9	522.2	513.4	-18.3	-3.4
Education and health services	326.6	315.5	313.0	314.1	-12.5	-3.8
Leisure and hospitality	270.9	229.3	224.3	226.9	-44.0	-16.2
Other services	86.4	75.9	75.5	75.5	-10.9	-12.6
Government	320.4	318.9	311.2	315.4	-5.0	-1.6
Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division
Total nonfarm	1,103.4	1,077.9	1,060.9	1,054.2	-49.2	-4.5
Mining, logging, and construction	75.8	73.3	73.0	71.0	-4.8	-6.3
Manufacturing	103.9	99.4	98.7	99.8	-4.1	-3.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	268.2	278.7	269.7	267.1	-1.1	-0.4
Information	10.7	9.5	9.5	9.5	-1.2	-11.2
Financial activities	68.6	68.2	67.6	67.1	-1.5	-2.2
Professional and business services	123.7	124.1	123.0	119.6	-4.1	-3.3
Education and health services	144.0	138.6	136.6	137.7	-6.3	-4.4
Leisure and hospitality	125.2	109.1	106.5	105.3	-19.9	-15.9
Other services	42.2	38.7	38.5	38.7	-3.5	-8.3
Government	141.1	138.3	137.8	138.4	-2.7	-1.9
(p) preliminary

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

Area and Industry	Feb. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021(p)	Feb. 2020 to Feb. 2021(p)
					Net change	Percent change
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Total nonfarm	2,867.9	2,741.6	2,697.6	2,706.3	-161.6	-5.6
Mining and logging	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	0.0	0.0
Construction	130.9	128.1	126.3	128.4	-2.5	-1.9
Manufacturing	171.4	165.4	162.9	163.9	-7.5	-4.4
Trade, transportation, and utilities	601.2	606.5	588.4	589.7	-11.5	-1.9
Information	106.0	97.9	97.9	97.7	-8.3	-7.8
Financial activities	180.8	181.8	178.8	178.3	-2.5	-1.4
Professional and business services	552.7	535.6	530.3	529.1	-23.6	-4.3
Education and health services	376.6	359.3	354.2	358.6	-18.0	-4.8
Leisure and hospitality	300.7	243.7	236.7	240.1	-60.6	-20.2
Other services	106.4	91.9	91.8	91.1	-15.3	-14.4
Government	339.5	329.7	328.6	327.7	-11.8	-3.5
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH
Total nonfarm	2,809.5	2,572.2	2,532.1	2,552.8	-256.7	-9.1
Mining, logging, and construction	116.1	120.0	114.1	111.6	-4.5	-3.9
Manufacturing	186.2	177.1	175.2	176.5	-9.7	-5.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	421.2	408.6	399.7	395.4	-25.8	-6.1
Information	83.7	76.8	79.0	78.3	-5.4	-6.5
Financial activities	184.6	179.9	181.1	181.5	-3.1	-1.7
Professional and business services	514.8	502.5	496.0	502.0	-12.8	-2.5
Education and health services	610.1	548.0	543.7	553.7	-56.4	-9.2
Leisure and hospitality	267.9	175.3	165.4	173.0	-94.9	-35.4
Other services	103.4	84.2	83.9	83.3	-20.1	-19.4
Government	321.5	299.8	294.0	297.5	-24.0	-7.5
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
Total nonfarm	4,699.1	4,384.6	4,287.4	4,304.8	-394.3	-8.4
Mining and logging	1.7	1.5	1.4	1.4	-0.3	-17.6
Construction	160.2	164.0	148.5	143.5	-16.7	-10.4
Manufacturing	416.0	394.8	389.6	392.3	-23.7	-5.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	936.2	945.2	917.3	909.6	-26.6	-2.8
Information	78.4	71.7	71.0	71.7	-6.7	-8.5
Financial activities	317.7	316.8	313.7	313.0	-4.7	-1.5
Professional and business services	818.6	789.4	772.5	768.8	-49.8	-6.1
Education and health services	746.5	699.9	692.2	698.7	-47.8	-6.4
Leisure and hospitality	475.1	308.8	297.0	314.7	-160.4	-33.8
Other services	196.0	174.8	175.2	174.2	-21.8	-11.1
Government	552.7	517.7	509.0	516.9	-35.8	-6.5
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Total nonfarm	3,838.8	3,755.0	3,701.8	3,695.9	-142.9	-3.7
Mining, logging, and construction	225.6	219.3	216.4	214.9	-10.7	-4.7
Manufacturing	291.0	281.0	280.8	281.7	-9.3	-3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	801.1	837.1	810.5	808.6	7.5	0.9
Information	83.1	78.9	79.1	79.1	-4.0	-4.8
Financial activities	325.8	328.4	326.4	326.6	0.8	0.2
Professional and business services	655.4	646.0	645.2	633.0	-22.4	-3.4
Education and health services	470.6	454.1	449.6	451.8	-18.8	-4.0
Leisure and hospitality	396.1	338.4	330.8	332.2	-63.9	-16.1
Other services	128.6	114.6	114.0	114.2	-14.4	-11.2
Government	461.5	457.2	449.0	453.8	-7.7	-1.7
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX
Total nonfarm	3,192.2	2,995.7	2,952.3	2,959.2	-233.0	-7.3
Mining and logging	78.4	66.3	67.0	67.6	-10.8	-13.8
Construction	237.4	200.9	198.3	199.8	-37.6	-15.8
Manufacturing	234.5	208.7	205.6	205.2	-29.3	-12.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	628.9	633.6	620.0	618.6	-10.3	-1.6
Information	32.7	29.0	28.7	28.7	-4.0	-12.2
Financial activities	169.2	163.3	162.8	162.0	-7.2	-4.3
Professional and business services	514.7	483.8	479.7	478.6	-36.1	-7.0
Education and health services	414.4	398.0	393.6	392.1	-22.3	-5.4
Leisure and hospitality	334.5	287.2	282.9	283.5	-51.0	-15.2
Other services	119.1	104.8	104.9	104.4	-14.7	-12.3
Government	428.4	420.1	408.8	418.7	-9.7	-2.3
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
Total nonfarm	6,303.0	5,627.3	5,492.7	5,564.6	-738.4	-11.7
Mining and logging	2.3	1.9	1.9	1.9	-0.4	-17.4
Construction	260.0	247.4	247.8	246.8	-13.2	-5.1
Manufacturing	496.3	454.7	445.0	449.0	-47.3	-9.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,101.3	1,076.8	1,045.5	1,041.6	-59.7	-5.4
Information	265.0	202.4	197.1	199.4	-65.6	-24.8
Financial activities	342.7	325.4	323.3	322.4	-20.3	-5.9
Professional and business services	975.5	901.6	883.8	892.5	-83.0	-8.5
Education and health services	1,103.5	1,053.0	1,039.7	1,047.8	-55.7	-5.0
Leisure and hospitality	773.4	501.0	458.4	505.9	-267.5	-34.6
Other services	217.0	157.5	153.1	158.5	-58.5	-27.0
Government	766.0	705.6	697.1	698.8	-67.2	-8.8
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
Total nonfarm	2,765.4	2,570.9	2,542.4	2,555.8	-209.6	-7.6
Mining and logging	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.0	0.0
Construction	142.6	137.9	137.4	138.0	-4.6	-3.2
Manufacturing	91.8	89.3	86.2	87.3	-4.5	-4.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	617.6	593.1	580.0	577.0	-40.6	-6.6
Information	51.8	46.3	46.0	46.5	-5.3	-10.2
Financial activities	191.9	191.3	187.2	187.4	-4.5	-2.3
Professional and business services	457.1	443.9	438.5	443.0	-14.1	-3.1
Education and health services	422.0	396.7	395.2	397.3	-24.7	-5.9
Leisure and hospitality	344.9	261.6	263.4	268.2	-76.7	-22.2
Other services	121.0	105.8	106.0	107.0	-14.0	-11.6
Government	323.9	304.2	301.7	303.3	-20.6	-6.4
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
Total nonfarm	9,933.2	9,001.7	8,767.6	8,819.6	-1,113.6	-11.2
Mining, logging, and construction	401.3	381.0	359.7	346.7	-54.6	-13.6
Manufacturing	355.0	330.3	325.9	327.5	-27.5	-7.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,709.6	1,612.3	1,553.1	1,535.4	-174.2	-10.2
Information	314.2	285.7	281.7	286.5	-27.7	-8.8
Financial activities	789.7	761.0	756.7	755.3	-34.4	-4.4
Professional and business services	1,570.8	1,469.9	1,434.8	1,449.1	-121.7	-7.7
Education and health services	2,119.6	1,956.5	1,917.6	1,947.2	-172.4	-8.1
Leisure and hospitality	905.0	559.2	525.4	544.4	-360.6	-39.8
Other services	425.3	344.2	341.0	341.6	-83.7	-19.7
Government	1,342.7	1,301.6	1,271.7	1,285.9	-56.8	-4.2
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Total nonfarm	2,976.4	2,783.7	2,732.2	2,761.8	-214.6	-7.2
Mining, logging, and construction	115.7	114.8	110.3	111.6	-4.1	-3.5
Manufacturing	182.8	175.1	172.1	172.2	-10.6	-5.8
Trade, transportation, and utilities	523.5	527.2	506.3	504.3	-19.2	-3.7
Information	53.8	50.1	49.1	49.6	-4.2	-7.8
Financial activities	218.2	215.6	214.4	215.9	-2.3	-1.1
Professional and business services	464.4	451.4	449.0	454.1	-10.3	-2.2
Education and health services	684.7	636.9	626.5	639.5	-45.2	-6.6
Leisure and hospitality	266.6	179.1	177.4	183.2	-83.4	-31.3
Other services	122.5	102.9	103.1	103.4	-19.1	-15.6
Government	344.2	330.6	324.0	328.0	-16.2	-4.7
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Total nonfarm	2,233.5	2,168.6	2,140.5	2,153.9	-79.6	-3.6
Mining and logging	3.3	2.8	2.8	2.8	-0.5	-15.2
Construction	137.2	133.5	132.0	130.2	-7.0	-5.1
Manufacturing	136.0	133.9	133.4	135.2	-0.8	-0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	416.5	440.8	424.0	427.9	11.4	2.7
Information	41.1	36.7	37.5	38.8	-2.3	-5.6
Financial activities	205.7	205.9	203.3	203.3	-2.4	-1.2
Professional and business services	372.8	364.9	361.4	361.9	-10.9	-2.9
Education and health services	353.2	346.3	344.5	346.3	-6.9	-2.0
Leisure and hospitality	242.3	194.1	195.1	197.8	-44.5	-18.4
Other services	70.3	67.0	65.9	67.2	-3.1	-4.4
Government	255.1	242.7	240.6	242.5	-12.6	-4.9
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
Total nonfarm	2,500.8	2,245.4	2,202.5	2,217.3	-283.5	-11.3
Mining and logging	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	-0.1	-25.0
Construction	129.4	120.9	122.1	121.0	-8.4	-6.5
Manufacturing	145.4	141.2	140.6	142.3	-3.1	-2.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	370.1	346.5	336.9	334.4	-35.7	-9.6
Information	133.5	136.0	134.6	134.0	0.5	0.4
Financial activities	146.8	140.2	138.1	137.2	-9.6	-6.5
Professional and business services	505.6	484.1	477.2	481.0	-24.6	-4.9
Education and health services	374.7	353.7	347.2	349.7	-25.0	-6.7
Leisure and hospitality	281.9	153.3	141.5	150.4	-131.5	-46.6
Other services	89.1	66.0	65.2	66.6	-22.5	-25.3
Government	323.9	303.2	298.8	300.4	-23.5	-7.3
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Total nonfarm	3,352.8	3,165.6	3,115.9	3,125.6	-227.2	-6.8
Mining, logging, and construction	162.8	162.5	158.7	157.2	-5.6	-3.4
Manufacturing	56.3	54.8	54.1	54.8	-1.5	-2.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	404.0	405.0	391.4	385.8	-18.2	-4.5
Information	77.0	72.4	73.1	72.5	-4.5	-5.8
Financial activities	159.9	153.4	152.5	152.5	-7.4	-4.6
Professional and business services	783.5	770.5	759.9	764.8	-18.7	-2.4
Education and health services	457.9	423.0	421.6	425.4	-32.5	-7.1
Leisure and hospitality	326.4	229.7	220.6	223.2	-103.2	-31.6
Other services	209.5	189.6	187.9	187.7	-21.8	-10.4
Government	715.5	704.7	696.1	701.7	-13.8	-1.9
(p) preliminary