Research

Eleven metro areas created one third of all July jobs

Strong labor markets in eleven metropolitan areas accounted for one out of every three jobs created in the nation during the past 12 months. U.S. employment in July was up by 1.3 million jobs compared to last year, and 452,000 of these were contributed by eleven metros with 20,000 or more new jobs.

Lee McPheters

2011-10-05

Strong labor markets in eleven metropolitan areas accounted for one out of every three jobs created in the nation during the past 12 months. U.S. employment in July was up by 1.3 million jobs compared to last year, and 452,000 of these were contributed by eleven metros with 20,000 or more new jobs.

Top metro areas

The major growth areas represented most regions of the country, according to payroll employment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released August 19 (data are not seasonally adjusted).

The greater New York City area (including Northern New Jersey and Long Island) added the largest number of jobs (71,700), followed by Dallas and Houston, each with just over 65,000 new jobs. Boston was in fourth place with 60,100 jobs, and Chicago was fifth, with 33,200.

The next six job gainers included Seattle (32,800), San Jose (29,600), Los Angeles (29,400), Phoenix (22,300), Miami (22,000), and San Diego (20,100).

The most rapid growth rate among the top ten metros was the Silicon Valley area of San Jose (including Sunnyvale and Santa Clara), with an employment increase of 3.5 percent in July, compared to July of 2010.

Job gains were recorded in some two-thirds (232) of all 372 metropolitan areas with employment figures reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 232 areas adding jobs, while the remaining 140 reported zerogrowth or outright job losses.

The most job losses in any metro area over the 12 month period ending in July were found in Atlanta (-28,200). The Atlanta area has lost jobs over-the-year each month in 2011.

State job growth

Among the states, the most new jobs were created in Texas (278,100), accounting for twenty percent of the nation’s 1.3 million new jobs.

Overall, 44 states added jobs in July, an improvement over the 41 states with employment gains in June. The fastest rate of growth was posted again by North Dakota, at 5.4 percent. North Dakota has been the fastest growing state in the nation for the past three years.

Behind North Dakota, the states rounding out the top ten fastest growing included Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Alaska, New Hampshire, Louisiana and Hawaii.

July over-the-year job losses were reported in the states of Kansas, Alabama, Delaware, Nevada, Georgia, and Indiana. The Hoosier State ranked last among all states in the rate of change in employment over-the-year in July, with a decrease of 0.8 percent and a decline of 23,400 jobs. Last year at this time, Indiana ranked second among all states in the rate of job creation.

Other states tumbling in the rankings include West Virginia (42nd now, down from 6th one year ago) and Vermont (30th now, 3rd one year ago).

Private jobs gains and government job losses

The employment gains for private jobs were somewhat more robust, with employment up by 1.8 million over-the-year in July. The national growth rate for private jobs was 1.7 percent. There were 27 states with a rate of increase faster than the nation as a whole. Only Georgia, Indiana, and Delaware lost private sector jobs in July.Overall, 47 states lost a total of 459,000 government jobs in July. Every state lost federal jobs, with New York losing the most (20,400). Minnesota lost the most state jobs (22,400) in July, due to the state government shut-down. Arizona lost the most local government jobs (14,400).

Economics Human Capital & Labor Markets

Eleven metro areas created one third of all July jobs

Top metro areas

State job growth

Private jobs gains and government job losses

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