Metro Scorecard Results - May 2025
The US labor market continues to post positive monthly job growth, despite headwinds from current and potential tariffs, continued high interest rates, and concerns about consumer strength.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national economy posted year-over-year* job growth of 1.1% in May. Growth rates were highest for Health Services & Education (3.5%)**, Leisure & Hospitality (1.4%), and Construction (1.4%). Most new jobs are being created in three large sectors: Health Services & Education, Government, and Leisure & Hospitality. Notably, Manufacturing shrank the most on a percentage basis (-0.7%).
At the metro level, 295 metros grew in May while just 83 (21%) metros lost jobs. Small metros had a higher percentage that shrank (25%), with these metros clustering in the upper Midwest, upper Appalachia, and along the West Coast.
Small Metro Employment Growth
May 2024 vs. May 2025
Top performers for large metros were Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and Orlando. Medium-sized metro leaders were Charleston (SC), Fayetteville (AR), and Boise (ID). Small metros leaders were Rochester (MN), Myrtle Beach, and Manhattan (KS).
In our Monthly Economic Scorecard, we profile the top-performing metros by size and industry. And, communities can see their trend data versus the US and for individual industries as shown below:
* We prefer to use year-over-year (e.g. April '25 versus April '24) so that we don't use the seasonally adjusted values from the BLS. And, by using "not seasonally adjusted" data, we also gain industry-level data which is not seasonally adjusted by the BLS at the metro level.
** Education & Health Services includes private sector establishments only. Any government-owned establishments (public school and public hospitals) are categorized under Government.