OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN PROVO-OREM—MAY 2009 (PDF)

Workers in the Provo-Orem, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.33 during May 2009, significantly below the nationwide average of $20.90, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, 17 occupational groups had wages in the local area that were measurably lower than their respective national averages, including management, business and financial operations, and computer and mathematical science. No group had a local wage that was significantly higher than its respective national average. (For a comprehensive definition of the Provo-Orem, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area, please see Technical Note.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2009

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment		Average hourly wage
	United States	Provo-Orem	United States	Provo-Orem
All Occupations	100.0	100.0	$20.90	*$18.33
Management occupations	4.7	*5.3	49.47	*40.25
Business and financial operations occupations	4.6	*3.1	31.68	*26.78
Computer and mathematical science occupations	2.5	*3.8	36.68	*29.92
Architecture and engineering occupations	1.8	*1.3	35.38	*29.60
Life, physical, and social science occupations	1.0	*0.8	31.57	*22.66
Community and social services occupations	1.4	*2.0	20.55	*16.70
Legal occupations	0.8	(1)	46.07	*32.22
Education, training, and library occupations	6.5	*8.0	23.81	23.11
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	1.3	*1.6	24.87	*19.85
Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations	5.5	*4.8	33.51	31.62
Healthcare support occupations	3.0	2.9	12.84	*11.77
Protective service occupations	2.4	*1.6	20.07	*16.40
Food preparation and serving related occupations	8.6	*7.6	10.04	*9.14
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	3.3	3.0	12.00	11.40
Personal care and service occupations	2.6	*2.2	11.87	12.09
Sales and related occupations	10.5	*11.9	17.32	*14.14
Office and administrative support occupations	17.1	*17.9	15.86	*13.42
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	0.3	*0.1	11.53	11.34
Construction and extraction occupations	4.4	*6.9	20.84	*19.24
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3.9	*3.3	20.30	*18.31
Production occupations	6.8	7.2	16.01	*14.19
Transportation and material moving occupations	6.8	*4.4	15.47	*13.28
Footnotes: (1) Data not available * The employment share or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction, sales and related, and computer and mathematical science. Conversely, ten groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations and transportation and material moving occupations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group, construction and extraction, was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Provo had 11,930 jobs in the construction and extraction group accounting for 6.9 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the occupational group’s 4.4-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for the construction and extraction group locally was $19.24, significantly below the national wage of $20.84.

With employment of 1,720, construction laborers were the largest published occupation within the construction and extraction group, followed by carpenters (1,700), and operating engineers and other construction equipment operators (1,240). Seven occupations had hourly wages exceeding $20.00, led by first-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers averaging $27.73. At the lower end of the wage scale were helpers--roofers ($10.12). (Detailed occupational data for the construction and extraction group are presented in table B; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39340.htm. OES data are published annually for all metropolitan areas. The most recent data for all areas are available at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm.)

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Utah Department of Workforce Services. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and up to 801 non-military detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas.

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria. NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data are not included in this release. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 establishments in May and November of each year for a 3-year period. The nationwide response rate for the May 2009 survey was 78.2 percent based on establishments and 74.5 percent based on employment. The survey included establishments sampled in the May 2009, November 2008, May 2008, November 2007, May 2007, and November 2006 semiannual panels. The sample in the Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,634 establishments with a response rate of 78 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

Metropolitan Statistical Area definition

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated November 2007.

The Provo-Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Juab and Utah Counties in Utah.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro7/. If you have additional questions, contact the Mountain-Plains Economic Analysis and Information Office at 816-285-7000. 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.

Last Modified Date: July 30, 2010

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