Charlotte’s job growth rate of 2.7% far outpaced New York’s 0.5%, making the Queen City one of only five major metros with significant gains in the job market last year. Philadelphia, Chicago and Phoenix rounded out the top five metros for job growth. 

U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands.

The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, a third the previously reported 584,000 and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Â