EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, OCTOBER 5, 1999 (TUESDAY)
Public Information Office CB99-186
301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: pio@census.gov
County Business Patterns Staff
301-457-2580
e-mail: cbp@census.gov
Los Angeles County Experiences Country's Biggest Business
and Job Gains, Census Bureau Reports
Los Angeles County, Calif., experienced higher business and employee growth
than any other county in the country between 1996 and 1997, according to
the annual County Business Patterns reports issued today by the
Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
The number of businesses with paid employees in Los Angeles County
increased by 3,287 between 1996 and 1997 and the number of employees by
118,761. Both figures were the highest increases of any county nationwide.
During the same period, the number of people living in the county grew by
more than 60,000.
"These are the most recent business data for the nation's 3,142 counties,"
Census Bureau analyst Paul Hanczaryk said. "The data are useful to state
and local planners and private businesses for charting growth. And
individuals looking for employment opportunities can benefit from these
data."
The following table shows employee and population gains for the United
States and the five counties with the largest employee gains from 1996 to
1997:
Employee Population
1997 1996 Gain: 1996-1997 Gain: 1996-1997
County Employees Employees Number/Percent Number/Percent
United States 105,299,123 102,198,864 3,100,259/3.0% 2,553,801/1.0%
Los Angeles, Calif. 3,588,831 3,470,070 118,761/3.4% 60,430/0.7%
Dallas, Texas 1,369,535 1,287,080 82,455/6.4% 31,657/1.6%
Maricopa, Ariz. 1,192,173 1,112,826 79,347/7.1% 85,197/3.3%
Harris, Texas 1,511,905 1,444,252 67,653/4.7% 47,481/1.5%
New York, N.Y. 1/ 1,925,194 1,858,487 66,707/3.6% 8,689/0.6%
1/ Manhattan portion of New York City
Nationally, the number of employees in private business increased 3.0 percent,
from 102.2 million to 105.3 million between 1996 and 1997. The services
industry reported the largest increase, with a gain of more than 1.6 million
employees, followed by the retail industry, which gained more than
500,000 employees.
Gains in the number of business establishments for the United States and
the five top counties for the period 1996 to 1997 were as follows:
1997 1996 Gain
County Establishments Establishments Number/Percent
United States 6,894,869 6,738,541 156,328/2.3%
Los Angeles, Calif. 218,878 215,591 3,287/1.5%
Maricopa, Ariz. 67,647 64,424 3,223/5.0%
New York, N.Y. 1/ 103,872 101,030 2,842/2.8%
Orange, Calif. 73,959 71,783 2,176/3.0%
Clark, Nev. 25,013 22,951 2,062/9.0%
1/ Manhattan portion of New York City
The five counties with the largest gains in annual payrolls, as well as
gains for the United States from 1996 to 1997 were as follows:
Gain
County 1997 Payroll 1996 Payroll Amount/Percent
($billion) ($billion) ($billion)
United States 3,047.9 2,849.0 199.0 7.0%
New York, N.Y. 1/ 110.3 102.2 8.2 8.0%
Los Angeles, Calif. 115.8 109.4 6.4 5.9%
Cook, Ill. 84.6 79.3 5.3 6.7%
Dallas, Texas 46.8 42.3 4.5 10.7%
Harris, Texas 51.2 47.0 4.2 8.9%
1/ Manhattan portion of New York City
The 1997 County Business Patterns tabulations provide information on
business establishments, employment and payroll for detailed industry
classifications in nine major economic divisions: agriculture services,
forestry and fishing; mining; construction; manufacturing; transportation
and public utilities; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance
and real estate; and services. Establishment counts represent the number
of business locations with paid employees at any time during the year.
This series of reports will begin to use North American Industry
Classification System codes in 1998, but for 1997 still uses Standard
Industrial Classification codes.
The data are obtained from Census Bureau reports and administrative records
of other federal agencies. Quality assurance procedures were applied to
all phases of collection, processing and tabulation to minimize errors.
However, the data are still subject to error from miscoding, estimation
for missing or misreported data, and difficulties identifying every unit
in the report.
Paper copies of these tabulations can be obtained from the Public Information
Office on 301-457-3030. Printed reports and CD-ROMs will be available at a
later date.
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