(Bloomberg) -- Los Angeles was the only county of the 10 largest in the US to register a decline in employment at the end of 2023 compared to a year earlier.

Among the top 10 counties by employment, Florida’s Miami-Dade County saw the largest percentage gain, with a jump of 2.8% in December 2023 from a year earlier, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday. Employment was flat in Seattle’s King County.

In Los Angeles County, private-sector employment fell 0.9%, reflecting a 19.3% decline in information payrolls, a 3.6% fall in financial jobs and a 3% drop in professional and business services positions. Employment also declined in manufacturing, trade and transportation, and construction.

There were bright spots. The biggest jobs gain by category for Los Angeles, at 4.7%, was in education and health services. Employment also rose in the leisure and hospitality and government sectors. 

Still, employment in Los Angeles County remains below pre-pandemic levels. Education and health industries comprise the only major employment sector with substantial gains since the last quarter of 2019.

Overall, US employment increased in 318 of the 360 largest US counties by employment. After Miami-Dade County, Houston’s Harris County and Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, saw the biggest employment growth among the top 10 counties, at 2%, and 1.6% respectively. 

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