From December 2010 to December 2011, employment in Delaware’s only large county, New Castle, increased 0.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2010 annual average employment.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that New Castle County gained jobs at a rate slower than the national increase of 1.4 percent over the year, but ranked toward the middle of all 322 large counties nationwide (179th).

Employment increased in 266 of the 322 largest U.S. counties from December 2010. Kern, Calif., had the largest percentage increase, with a gain of 5.3 percent over the year. Fort Bend, Texas, had the next-largest percentage increase (4.5 percent), followed by the counties of Weld, Colo., Williamson, Tenn., and Utah, Utah (4.3 percent each). Employment fell in 46 large counties during this period. Benton, Wash., experienced the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-3.4 percent), followed by St. Clair, Ill. (-2.9 percent).

New Castle County’s employment in December 2011 was 270,400 and accounted for 66.6 percent of Delaware’s total employment. Nationwide, the 322 large counties accounted for 70.7 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 131.3 million in December 2011. These 322 counties had a net job growth of 1.2 million over the year, accounting for 68.8 percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.

The average weekly wage in New Castle County declined 1.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011. Still, New Castle County placed in the top half of the large counties in the U.S. for wage change (137th). Over the year, the national average weekly wage fell by 1.7 percent. Olmsted, Minn., had the largest average wage decrease, down 21.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Douglas, Calif., was second largest decline at 8.6 percent, followed by the counties of Williamson, Tenn. (-6.7 percent); Durham, N.C. (-6.5 percent); and St. Clair, Ill. (-6.2 percent).

Despite posting an over-the-year wage decrease, New Castle County’s average weekly wage of $1,102 still ranked in the top 50 among the largest counties (48th). Delaware’s largest county exceeded the U.S. average weekly wage of $955 in the fourth quarter of 2011 by 15.4 percent.

Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 103 of the largest 322 U.S. counties. New York, N.Y., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with a wage of $1,889. Santa Clara, Calif., was second at $1,836, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,668), and Suffolk, Mass. ($1,599). (See table 1.) There were 219 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2011. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Horry, S.C. ($569), followed by the counties of Cameron, Texas ($597); Hidalgo, Texas ($601); and Yakima, Wash. ($648).

Average Weekly Wages in Delaware’s Smaller Counties

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the two counties in Delaware with employment below 75,000. Both Kent ($749) and Sussex ($690) Counties had average weekly wages more than 20 percent below the national average. (See table A and chart 1).

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 2010 edition of this publication, which was published in November 2011, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2011 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2010 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn10.htm. The 2011 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2012.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Technical Note

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 131.3 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.

 

Last Modified Date: July 23, 2012