Issues

in Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary 97-8

May 1997

Average employment growth rates in metropolitan areas by employment size class,

1995-96

Over 1,000,000 500,000-999,999 250,000-499,999 100,000-249,999 Under 100,000

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2.1 2.1

1.9 1.8

1.5

2.1

2.6

1.8 1.9

1.4

Growth rate (percent)

Median growth

rate

Mean growth

rate

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

In terms of employment, warm

weather cities dominated the list of

fastest growing metropolitan areas in

1996. The Las Vegas, NV metropolitan statistical area (MSA) led all

areas in growth rate, adding jobs at a

robust 8.6 percent pace. Growth on

this order has become commonplace

in Las Vegas. Over the past 5 years,

the area’s employment growth rate

has averaged 8 percent and there are

now 40 percent more jobs in the

booming resort area than in 1991.

There are now 21 MSA’s with

over one million jobs, up from 19

just 1 year ago. Denver, CO and

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater,

FL crossed that threshold in the past

year. San Diego just missed the big

list with a 1996 annual average

count of 999,000 jobs. Among these

large MSA’s, Phoenix-Mesa, AZ

experienced the highest growth rate,

adding 6.9 percent to employment

over the past year, while Atlanta,

GA added the greatest number of

jobs, 88,400. Phoenix has now

added some 300,000 jobs, or about

30 percent, since the recession year

of 1991, while Atlanta has added

nearly 400,000 jobs, or 26 percent,

over the same span.

The table summarizes the biggest

gainers by MSA size class, as

measured by jobs added and percent

growth. Interestingly, Decatur, IL is

the only area in the table that is

accustomed to seeing more than a

couple inches of snow per year. But

not every warm, sunny city fared as

well. Honolulu, HI, with the highest

mean temperature of any major city

in the U.S., lost 4,400 jobs, the most

of any area.

Is big bad?

There may be a perception that

America’s biggest MSA’s are not

performing as well in job growth as

the smaller ones. For example, The

Wall Street Journal reports that both

New York and Los Angeles “have

been slow to recover from deep

recessions and have employment

rates that raise the national average”

by an estimated 0.2 percentage

point. And, the president of New

York’s Federal Reserve Bank

remarked recently, “By one key and

highly visible measure—employment—the New York City area has

yet to recover fully from the last

recession. The local job count is still

more than one-half million below its

1989 peak.”

The data from the CES program

do not, however, support a generalized notion of slower growth in

larger metropolitan areas. Only 4

out of 21 areas with employment

over 1 million had growth rates

under 1 percent last year, and none

of these areas ex-perienced job

losses. A look at the mean and

median growth rates by size class

shows that, in fact, the smallest

areas had lower growth rates. (See

chart.) Areas with more than a half

million jobs averaged over 2.0

percent growth, while areas with

Warm Areas Continue Hottest Job Growth
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the CES State and area homepage.

Information in this report is in the

public domain and, with appropriate

credit, may be reproduced without

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collected from payroll records by

BLS in cooperation with State

employment security agencies.

Complete tables of metropolitan

area employment used in this report

can be found at http://stats.bls.gov:

80/790issues1.htm For more information on this program, contact the

CES staff at 2 Massachusetts Ave.

N.E., Room 4860, Washington, DC

20212, (202) 606-6559, or vist,

http://stats.bls.gov:80/790home.htm,

fewer than 100,000 jobs averaged

around 1.5 percent growth. It is true,

however, that many of the large

MSA’s record a substantial number

of their jobs, and job growth, in

outlying counties.

Data for this report were derived

from the BLS Current Employment

Statistics program, which provides

information on the employment,

hours, and earnings of workers on

nonfarm payrolls. The data are

Metropolitan area employment growth leaders, 1995-96

Employment class Area / jobs added Area / percent increase

Over 1,000,000 Atlanta, GA (88,400) Phoenix-Mesa, AZ (6.9)

500,000-999,999 San Jose, CA (47,200) Las Vegas, NV (8.6)

250,000-499,999 West Palm Beach-Boca West Palm Beach-Boca

 Raton, FL (17,300) Raton, FL (4.3)

100,000-249,999 Sarasota-Bradenton, Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (7.3)

 FL (15,300)

Under 100,000 Lake Charles, LA (3,400) Decatur, IL (5.7)