County Employment and Wages in the District of Columbia – Second Quarter 2012

Local Employment and Wage Growth Slower than those for the Nation

The average weekly wage in Washington, D.C., rose 0.3 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 1.3 percent over the year, as 233 of the largest 328 counties had 12-month increases. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2011 annual average employment.) Over-the-year weekly wage growth in Washington, D.C., placed 215th among the nation’s 328 large counties. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that despite below-average growth over the year, the weekly wage in Washington, D.C., ranked third-highest in the nation in the second quarter of 2012, at $1,544. Nationally, weekly wages averaged $903.

Washington, D.C., reported a 0.9-percent increase in employment from June 2011 to June 2012. Nationally, employment rose 1.8 percent during this 12-month period as 287 of the largest 328 U.S. counties gained jobs. Washington, D.C.’s percent growth in employment ranked 222nd, placing it in the bottom third among the nation’s 328 largest counties. Employment in Washington, D.C., totaled 717,900 in June 2012.

Large county wage changes

Among the 328 largest counties, Washington, Ore., had the largest over-the-year increase in average weekly wages (8.5 percent), followed by the counties of Washington, Pa. (7.8 percent); McLean, Ill. (7.2 percent); and San Mateo, Calif. (7.1 percent).

Eighty-six large counties nationwide experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages, led by Williamson, Texas, with a loss of 17.0 percent. Kitsap, Wash. (-4.2 percent), had the second-largest overall decline among the counties, followed by Arlington, Va. (-3.8 percent); Durham, N.C. (-3.6 percent); and Benton, Wash. (-3.4 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Across the United States, average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 109 of the largest 328 counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,754. New York, N.Y., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,646, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,544); San Mateo, Calif. ($1,515); and Arlington, Va. ($1,493).

Three of the 10 counties with the highest wages in the United States were located in the Washington metropolitan area (Arlington, Va.; Fairfax, Va.; and Washington, D.C.), and three were in the New York metropolitan area (Fairfield, Conn.; New York, N.Y.; and Somerset, N.J.). Three other top-paying counties were located in or around the San Francisco metropolitan area (San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, Calif.). Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk, Mass., which was located in the Boston metropolitan area. (See table 1.)

There were 219 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the second quarter of 2012. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Horry, S.C. ($532), followed by the counties of Cameron, Texas ($571), Hidalgo, Texas ($583), Lake, Fla. ($614), and Yakima, Wash. ($617).

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 2. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2011 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2013.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Average weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.2 million employer reports cover 132.9 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels of those covered by UI programs. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter. It is to be noted, therefore, that over-the-year wage changes for geographic areas may reflect shifts in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and such other factors as hours of work. Thus, wages may vary among counties, metropolitan areas, or states for reasons other than changes in the average wage level. Data for all states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons—some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes.

The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the individual states as well as from the data presented on the BLS Web site. These potential differences result from the states’ continuing receipt, review and editing of UI data over time. On the other hand, differences between data in this release and the data found on the BLS Web site are the result of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Specifically, these adjustments account for administrative (noneconomic) changes such as a correction to a previously reported location or industry classification. Adjusting for these administrative changes allows users to more accurately assess changes of an economic nature (such as a firm moving from one county to another or changing its primary economic activity) over a 12-month period. Currently, adjusted data are available only from BLS press releases.

Table 1. Covered(1) employment and wages in the top 10 counties ranked by average weekly wage, second quarter 2011(2)

Area(3)	Employment		Average weekly wage(4)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12(5)	Average weekly wage	Ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12(5)	Ranking by percent change
United States(6)	132,896.0	1.8	$903	--	1.3	--
Santa Clara, Calif.	903.1	3.8	1,754	1	1.2	153
New York, N.Y.	2,392.0	2.4	1,646	2	0.2	221
Washington, D.C.	717.9	0.9	1,544	3	0.3	215
San Mateo, Calif.	342.1	4.3	1,515	4	7.1	4
Arlington, Va.	167.3	-0.8	1,493	5	-3.8	326
San Francisco, Calif.	585.8	4.3	1,487	6	3.3	33
Fairfield, Conn.	413.5	1.8	1,425	7	-2.9	318
Fairfax, Va.	598.1	2.1	1,422	8	-0.4	262
Suffolk, Mass.	598.1	2.0	1,381	9	-0.7	282
Somerset, N.J.	175.6	1.0	1,345	10	2.6	74
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Includes areas not officially designated as counties. (4) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data (5) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for any noneconomic county reclassifications. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, second quarter 2012 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	132,896.0	1.8	$903	--	1.3	--
Alabama	1,841.7	0.9	783	34	2.0	20
Alaska	342.9	2.1	955	8	1.5	29
Arizona	2,393.9	2.6	862	18	2.1	17
Arkansas	1,157.4	1.1	717	47	2.1	17
California	15,045.8	2.4	1,034	6	1.8	24
Colorado	2,291.8	2.5	918	14	2.0	20
Connecticut	1,650.0	1.2	1,111	2	-0.4	50
Delaware	409.3	0.2	948	11	2.4	13
District of Columbia	717.9	0.9	1,544	1	0.3	44
Florida	7,233.7	2.0	805	30	0.4	42
Georgia	3,854.7	1.4	848	22	1.9	22
Hawaii	603.7	2.1	812	28	1.8	24
Idaho	626.1	1.5	673	51	0.9	38
Illinois	5,698.0	1.1	953	9	1.6	27
Indiana	2,832.6	2.3	763	41	1.9	22
Iowa	1,502.7	1.5	743	43	2.5	12
Kansas	1,334.4	1.7	763	41	1.1	35
Kentucky	1,780.7	1.6	772	38	1.6	27
Louisiana	1,877.2	1.6	806	29	1.5	29
Maine	601.8	1.2	719	45	1.0	37
Maryland	2,550.2	1.5	992	7	0.7	39
Massachusetts	3,301.5	1.9	1,109	3	-1.2	51
Michigan	3,984.0	2.1	859	19	1.7	26
Minnesota	2,695.1	1.5	907	15	1.1	35
Mississippi	1,087.4	0.6	681	49	2.9	3
Missouri	2,629.1	0.4	791	32	2.2	15
Montana	442.0	2.0	700	48	2.6	8
Nebraska	930.9	2.0	719	45	0.7	39
Nevada	1,141.7	1.6	815	27	-0.1	48
New Hampshire	623.8	1.4	891	17	0.3	44
New Jersey	3,884.0	1.4	1,056	5	0.0	47
New Mexico	791.9	0.4	783	34	2.6	8
New York	8,701.2	1.5	1,096	4	0.4	42
North Carolina	3,919.1	1.5	787	33	0.5	41
North Dakota	420.3	9.9	854	21	11.1	1
Ohio	5,104.0	1.9	817	25	2.8	4
Oklahoma	1,543.4	1.9	768	39	2.7	6
Oregon	1,663.9	1.6	837	24	2.3	14
Pennsylvania	5,645.9	0.7	893	16	2.1	17
Rhode Island	463.1	0.9	859	19	-0.3	49
South Carolina	1,830.7	1.5	736	44	1.4	31
South Dakota	412.8	1.9	677	50	3.2	2
Tennessee	2,669.1	2.0	816	26	2.8	4
Texas	10,779.5	3.0	922	13	2.6	8
Utah	1,225.8	3.6	766	40	1.3	34
Vermont	300.2	1.0	792	31	2.6	8
Virginia	3,659.9	1.2	952	10	0.3	44
Washington	2,948.3	2.4	947	12	2.2	15
West Virginia	712.3	1.4	776	37	1.4	31
Wisconsin	2,749.7	1.4	778	36	1.4	31
Wyoming	288.9	1.6	842	23	2.7	6
Puerto Rico	933.3	1.8	499	(5)	0.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	40.2	-8.6	819	(5)	9.8	(5)
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.

 

Last Modified Date: January 24, 2013