Employment In Large U.S. Counties On the Rise

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently reported that employment has increased  in all of the 10 largest U.S. counties over a one-year period, from March 2010 – March 2011.

Out of the top 10 largest counties, Harris, Texas witnessed the largest gain in employment over the one-year period, at 2.3 percent. Orange, California experienced the second largest gain at 2.0 percent. New York, New York  came in third with a 1.9 percent positive change in employment.

 “The five counties with the largest increases in employment level were Harris, Texas; New York, New York; Los Angeles, California; Orange, California; and Dallas, Texas,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed. “These counties had a combined over-the-year gain of 178,700, or 11.0 percent of the employment increase for the United States.”

Other counties showed less significant, yet still positive employment changes. Cook, Illinois and Los Angeles, California both tied for the lowest gains at 1.0 percent. Maricopa , Arizona followed with a positive employment gain of 1.3 percent.

“From March 2010 to March 2011, employment increased in 256 of the 322 largest U.S. counties,” the B.L.S. noted. “Elkhart, Ind., posted the largest percentage increase, with a gain of 6.2 percent over the year, compared with national job growth of 1.3 percent. Within Elkhart, the largest employment increase occurred in manufacturing, which gained 5,125 jobs over the year (12.4 percent). Sacramento, Calif., experienced the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a loss of 1.6 percent.”