New England Information Office

COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN MAINE
Third Quarter 2007

The average weekly wage in Cumberland County was $738 in the third quarter of 2007, 3.8 percent higher than it was one year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Denis McSweeney noted that Cumberland's average weekly wage was $80 below the national level of $818 and its wage growth was slower than the nationwide increase of 4.3 percent. Cumberland was the only large county in Maine, that is, it had 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2006 annual average employment.

Nationally, there were 328 large counties of which 215 had average weekly wages below the U.S. average in the third quarter of 2007. Though Cumberland County's wage was less than that for the nation, it still fell into the mid-range of the national ranking at 193rd. Likewise, Cumberland's below-average wage growth ranked near the middle of the ranking at 140th. Overall, Cumberland was 1 of 207 large counties with slower-than-average wage gains over the year.

Employment in Cumberland County rose 0.9 percent from September 2006 to September 2007, matching the national average. Cumberland's employment growth was the 131st fastest in the nation among the 328 large counties. Overall, employment rose in 217 of the large counties from September a year ago and declined in 86 counties.

Wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 15 counties in Maine with employment below 75,000. None of these counties registered average weekly wages above that for the nation in the third quarter of 2007. Sagadahoc County had the highest wage in the State at $762 and Piscataquis County, the lowest, $506. (See table 2.)

When all 16 counties in Maine were considered, half (8) had wages ranging from $500 to $599. The remaining eight counties had wages of $600 or more, with only two exceeding $700-Sagadahoc and Cumberland. (See table 2.)

Large County Average Weekly Wages

Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 112 of the 328 largest counties in the nation in the third quarter of 2007. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $1,585. New York County, N.Y., was second with an average wage of $1,544, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,376), Arlington, Va. ($1,364), and San Mateo, Calif. ($1,322).

At the other end of the spectrum, Cameron County, Texas, reported the lowest average weekly wage ($518) in the United States, followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($529), Horry, S.C. ($536), Webb, Texas ($548), and Yakima, Wash. ($568).

Over the year, the national average weekly wage rose by 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2007. Among the largest counties, Clayton, Ga., led the nation in wage growth with an increase of 23.9 percent from the third quarter of 2006. Muscogee, Ga., was second with growth of 12.1 percent, followed by the counties of Santa Clara, Calif. (11.8 percent), Rock Island, Ill. (11.5 percent), and Davidson, Tenn. (9.1 percent). The high average weekly wage growth for Clayton County was due to increases in wage disbursements in the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector during the quarter.

Ten counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Trumbull, Ohio, had the largest decline, 10.6 percent, followed by the counties of Vanderburgh, Ind. (-6.1 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-4.0 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-3.1 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-3.0 percent).

State Average Weekly Wages

The average weekly wage in Maine was $660 in the third quarter of 2007, $158 below that for the nation, ranking 44th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The five highest wage levels in the United States were along the east coast-the District of Columbia ($1,376), Connecticut ($1,021), New York ($1,009), Massachusetts ($1,002), and New Jersey ($965).

Average weekly wages in Maine rose 3.9 percent over the year, the 35th highest increase in the nation. Washington experienced wage growth of 6.7 percent from the third quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007, higher than any other state. Connecticut was a very close second with a 6.6-percent wage increase. Rounding out the top five were New York (6.1 percent), North Dakota (5.8 percent), and Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Utah (5.5 percent each). One state suffered a wage decline: Rhode Island (-0.1 percent).

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 reports submitted by every employer subject to unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The 9.0 million employer reports cover 136.2. 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. The result then is 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 (see Technical Note below) and may not match the data contained on the Bureau's Web site.

Additional statistics and other information

An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages, features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2006 edition of this bulletin contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2007 version of the national news release. As with the 2005 edition, this edition includes the data on a CD for enhanced access and usability with the printed booklet containing selected graphic representations of QCEW data; the data tables themselves will be published exclusively in electronic formats as PDFs. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006 is available for sale from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents. On-line ordering information is available at bookstore.gpo.gov/. The 2006 bulletin is available in a portable document format (pdf) on the BLS Web Site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewregional.htm.

QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been placed at one convenient BLS Web site location, www.bls.gov/cew/cewregional.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 617-565-2072; Federal Relay Services: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Boston Information Office at (617) 565-2327 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET.

QCEW data are the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. For this reason, county and industry data are not designed to be used as a time series.

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. The potential differences result from several causes. Differences between BLS and state published data may be due to the 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.