Total nonfarm employment for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) stood at 2,369,000 in February 2013, an increase of 57,800, or 2.5 percent, from one year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the Atlanta area has recorded over-the-year employment gains each month for more than two and a half years. Nationally, nonfarm employment increased 1.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1; Technical Note at end of 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 Atlanta metropolitan area, professional and business services added the most jobs in February 2013, up 19,000, or 4.7 percent, over the 12-month period. Atlanta’s professional and business services sector has recorded over-the-year employment gains each month since March 2010. This supersector grew 3.1 percent nationally. (See chart 2.)

Trade, transportation, and utilities had the second largest increase in jobs locally, increasing by 11,200 from the previous February. Employment in trade, transportation, and utilities grew 2.2 percent in Atlanta, faster than the 1.8 percent recorded in the United States.

Two additional supersectors, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services, added 10,900 and 9,100 jobs, respectively. Employment in leisure and hospitality grew 4.9 percent over the 12-month period, the fastest rate of growth for any supersector in the Atlanta area. Nationally, this industry experienced growth of 2.7 percent. Education and health services employment advanced 3.2 percent, outpacing the national increase of 1.7 percent.

Government was the only supersector in the Atlanta area recording an employment decline of more than 1,000 from the previous February, down 4,000. Atlanta’s 1.2-percent decline in government employment exceeded the 0.3-percent decrease nationwide. Government has been losing jobs in the Atlanta area for most of the last three years.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

The Atlanta area was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in February 2013. All of these areas experienced over-the-year job gains in February, though the rates of growth were varied. Employment growth was strongest in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 4.5 percent, almost triple the national rate of 1.6 percent. Two other areas—Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont—had growth rates above 3.0 percent, and Atlanta and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana broke the 2.0-percent mark. All remaining areas had job growth of at least 1.0 percent, with the exception of Detroit-Warren-Livonia, at 0.6 percent. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Among the 12 areas, Los Angeles added the most jobs since February 2012, up 124,600, followed by Houston at 118,700. Employment in two other areas—New York and Dallas—also grew by more than 100,000. Detroit experienced the smallest gain, adding 10,500 jobs over the 12-month period.

Professional and business services topped area gains in seven metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco). Trade, transportation, and utilities registered the largest employment gains in Houston and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach. Education and health services was the leading growth industry in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington and leisure and hospitality experienced the largest gains in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Manufacturing registered the highest employment growth in Detroit.

Government experienced the largest loss of jobs in four areas (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia), and information in two areas (Dallas and New York). Leisure and hospitality and other services each led employment declines in one area. In Boston, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco there were no job losses over 1,000 for any supersector since February 2012.

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.

Definition. 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 places 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 (NAICS).

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 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 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 survey, 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 are also 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 special estimation processes used. The sums of individual items are not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for state CES data at the supersector level are available online at www.bls.gov/sae/790stderr.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions for states is available at www.bls.gov/sae/.

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/.

Current and historical information on the Current Employment Statistics program and other surveys are also available on our regional Web site at www.bls.gov/ro4/home.htm. 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.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on December 1, 2009. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
includes the counties of Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton in Georgia.

Last Modified Date: April 17, 2013

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Southeast Information Office, Suite 7T50, 61 Forsyth St., S.W., Atlanta, GA 30303

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