Despite the disheartening news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly jobs reports, the latest news is that Cleveland actually is gaining jobs and moving forward.

The BLS’ monthly jobs report shows that Cleveland lost 2,100 jobs since May 2012, more than any other metropolitan area in the country. However, the latest BLS report, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), released last week, shows that Cleveland in fact gained 7,669 jobs in the third quarter of 2013. While this report takes a little longer to come out than the monthly report, it is much more accurate. Cleveland had an average of 992,570 employed between May and September of 2013.

The difference, says Team NEO CEO Tom Waltermire, is that the monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) report is based on data from only six percent of the country’s business community, while the QCEW is based on data from 98 percent of businesses.

“The CES data is very premature and should never have been released,” says Waltermire. “The numbers are so preliminary they’re inaccurate. What it means for Cleveland is we have been subjected to nine months of regular and increasingly inflammatory headlines that report we’re the worst big city region from a jobs perspective. That is not the case.”

The latest QCEW report marks the 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year job growth in Northeast Ohio.

Team NEO is now working to reverse the impressions created by the monthly reports. The organization has teamed up with Cleveland State’s Levin College of Urban Affairs and the Cleveland Federal Reserve to better analyze the data. Team NEO also is working with the Greater Cleveland Partnership in lobbying Ohio’s congressional representatives about the way employment data is released.

“People should think of the economy in Cleveland as gradually growing,” says Waltermire. “Every month has shown a higher number of jobs than the year before. We’re on a winning streak here.”

Source: Tom Waltermire
Writer: Karin Connelly