Despite a slowing in the seasonally adjusted monthly U.S. job gain figures, metro-level data continued to show solid gains, at least for not seasonally adjusted data. According to the latest data release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nine of the top 10 markets for annual job creation had higher job gain totals in June than in May.
Altogether, the top 10 markets created 106,500 more jobs in the 12 months ending in June than the same period through May, an increase of 10.6%. This is on top of the fact that the majority of top 10 markets had their annual job gain figures for May revised upward slightly.
Nine of last month’s top 10 markets returned to this month’s list with the first three remaining in place and a few other markets changing rankings.
New York continues to lead the nation in annual gains with 221,500 new jobs for the year-ending June, up about 10,400 jobs from last month but 250,300 less than last June. Dallas remained the #2 market with an annual gain of 149,600 jobs, just 35,800 jobs fewer than last year but 25,400 more than May’s annual total.
Houston returned in the #3 spot, gaining 121,600 jobs for the year, down 55,600 from last June but about even with last month. Philadelphia moved into the #4 spot with an annual gain of 108,500 jobs for the year, 43,400 less than last year but 15,800 more than May’s annual total.
Los Angeles slipped one spot to #5, adding 106,200 jobs but slowed by almost 143,000 jobs from last year, despite adding 9,700 jobs to their annual gain from May. Chicago remained in the #6 spot with 89,200 jobs gained, up more than 9,000 jobs from May (like LA) but down 83,000 jobs from last June.
Atlanta moved up one spot to #7, adding 87,900 jobs through June, almost 67,000 fewer than last year but 15,300 more than in May. Washington, DC jumped two spots to #8 with a gain of 85,200 jobs for the year, down only a few hundred jobs from last June but more than 19,000 jobs greater than last month.
Boston dropped two places from last month’s top 10 list to #9, adding 78,000 jobs through June, about 24,000 less than a year ago and down only slightly from May. Seattle displaced Tampa from the top job gain list at #10 this month, adding 63,500 jobs for the year, down 22,700 from last June but improving 5,900 jobs from May.
Compared to May’s annual job gain totals, nine of the next 10 markets ranked by annual job gains had more new jobs for the year than the month before as a surprisingly strong jobs market continues. Additionally, five markets had annual job gains of 100,000 or more, two more than in May. Another 13 markets gained between 50,000 and 99,999 jobs, the same as last month. None of RealPage’s top 150 markets recorded annual job losses in June.
Like annual job gains, the annual percentage change in employment remained unexpectedly solid for most markets. The employment percentage gain for the top 10 markets averaged 5.4% in June compared to 4.6% last month. Additionally, all of June’s top 10 markets had higher percentage employment gains than in May.
Seven markets returned to June’s top employment change list from May with the first two in the same order. The energy-dependent market of Midland/Odessa continued to lead the nation for percentage growth at 7.6%, up 80 basis points (bps) from last month. Charleston, SC returned at #2 with 6.3% growth, up 40 bps from May.
Manchester/Nashua/Concord, NH jumped onto this month’s list at #3 with 5.5% job growth reported and college town College Station-Bryan, TX followed at #4 with 5.4% growth. Jacksonville, FL also debuted on the list at #5 with job growth of 5.1%, with each of these three markets seeing a jump in job growth of at least 100 bps.
Tying Jacksonville at 5.1% growth for the year were returning markets Dallas and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR. Dallas’ neighbor Fort Worth ranked #8 on this month’s list with 4.8% growth, up about 40 bps from last month. Las Vegas and Columbus, GA tied for #9 with 4.7% annual job growth, with both gaining 50 bps from May.
Several of last month’s Southeast markets fell off the top 10 list as their annual employment growth slowed (Myrtle Beach, Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Tampa), as did San Antonio. However, Texas was still well represented by the Dallas/Fort Worth market, College Station-Bryan and Midland/Odessa.
Compared to one year ago, Las Vegas slowed the most for job growth, falling 490 bps for the year. Dallas, Fort Worth and Midland/Odessa each slowed by at least 100 bps from last June.
The weakest major markets for percentage growth are still primarily in the industrial Midwest and Mountain West. Major markets with sub-1% growth include Denver and Cleveland, while sub-1.5% growth major markets include Riverside, Memphis and Toledo. Sixty-five markets had annual job growth rates above the not seasonally adjusted national average of 2.8%, five less than in May.
