Hiring among U.S. employers accelerated in May despite persistent high interest rates and slower consumer spending, but job gains at the metro level were less than expected.
Only six of the top 10 markets for employment gains increased their 12-month totals from April, adding an average of just 4,600 jobs per market, according to an analysis by RealPage, based on employment data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the remaining four markets, annual job gain totals decreased.
New York was the only market to top 100,000 new jobs added for the year, although it lost 13,300 jobs month to month. Only two markets – Phoenix and Houston – added between 50,000 and 99,999 jobs during the past year. Houston retained its second-place spot with 81,700 jobs added year over year and 1,900 from April. Phoenix outpaced Dallas to land in the third spot with 52,300 new jobs added during the past year.
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The remainder of the top 10 markets include Dallas (47,400 jobs), Las Vegas (45,200), Philadelphia (44,300), Atlanta (34,600), Miami (33,800), San Antonio (30,000) and Washington, D.C. (28,99). Los Angeles and Sacramento both fell out of the top 10. Eleven markets saw annual job losses, including Portland, Oregon; Memphis; Denver; San Francisco; Milwaukee and Baltimore.
The list of markets ranked by annual percentage of job growth saw more change in May, with four of last month's top employment growth markets returning and many markets changing places. Charleston ranked No. 1 for employment change in May at 4.5% while Las Vegas and College Station, Texas, tied for the second spot with 4% growth. Stockton-Lodi, California, ranked fourth with 3.4% job growth, up 80 basis points from April's growth rate.
Rounding out the top 10 were Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Fort Collins, Colorado; Lincoln, Nebraska; Boise City, Idaho; and Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina. Myrtle Beach led the list last month. The list of top job growth markets includes several metros with state capitals, major universities or tourism attractions, or a combination of these, noted RealPage.
Outside of the top growth markets, several markets experienced job growth rates of 100 basis points or more from last year, including Boulder, Colorado; Syracuse, New York; Omaha, Nebraska; Tallahassee, Florida; Vallejo/Fairfield/Napa, California; and New Haven, Connecticut. Meanwhile, Midland/Odessa and Corpus Christi, Texas; Flint, Michigan; Orlando and Port St. Lucie/Sebastian/Vero Beach, Florida; Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee; Lansing, Michigan; and New Orleans fell by at least 300 bps from last year's job growth.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
