Internet: www.bls.gov/ro5/ | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 | Wednesday, September 3, 2008 |
MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte | |
(312) 353-1138 |
County Employment and Wages in Michigan, Fourth Quarter 2007
The average weekly wage in Ingham County increased 4.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, the largest increase among Michigan’s 10 counties with employment of 75,000 or more (as measured by 2006 annual average employment). Kalamazoo County had the second-highest wage growth at 3.9 percent, followed by Macomb County at 3.7 percent. Oakland County had the highest average weekly wage level in the State at $1,049, followed by the counties of Wayne ($991), Washtenaw ($957), and Macomb ($922). (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that only one county had wage growth above the 4.2 percent national increase and four counties had wages above the national average of $898.Â
Among the 10 largest counties in Michigan, employment in December 2007 was highest in Wayne County (751,000) and lowest in Saginaw County (86,300). Nine of the 10 large counties in the State reported declines in employment levels from December 2006 to December 2007. Only Ingham County increased employment, up 0.2 percent. Nationally, employment grew 0.8 percent during this time period.Â
Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 73 counties in Michigan with employment below 75,000. Seventy-two of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)
Wage Levels in Large Counties
The average weekly wage levels in the counties of Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Macomb, and Ingham placed in the top half of the national rankings among the 328 largest counties in the United States. Oakland County’s average weekly wage ranked 46th; Wayne’s, 60th; Washtenaw’s, 72nd; Macomb’s, 91st; and Ingham’s, 139th. As mentioned, the four highest-paid large counties in the State had average weekly wages above the national average of $898.
The average weekly wages in Michigan’s five other large counties placed in the bottom half of the national rankings: Saginaw ($756/248th), Ottawa ($761/243rd), Kalamazoo ($799/191st), Genesee ($802/188th), and Kent ($804/183rd).
Across the country, average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 106 of the largest 328 U.S. counties. New York, N.Y., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,862. Santa Clara, Calif., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,700, followed by Fairfield, Conn. ($1,575), Suffolk, Mass. ($1,546), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,529).
Nationwide, there were 222 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2007. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($555), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($562), Horry, S.C. ($582), Webb, Texas ($590), and Yakima, Wash. ($596).
Wage Changes in Large Counties
Only one of Michigan’s 10 large counties recorded wage growth above the national increase of 4.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007. (See table 1.) Ingham County’s 4.4-percent wage gain was the largest increase in the State and ranked 116th in the nation. Kalamazoo, at 3.9 percent, placed 141st. Ottawa County was the only county in the State to report no wage gain and ranked 307th among the nation’s largest counties.
Pulaski County, Ark., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 26.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. Williamson, Texas, was second with growth of 16.5 percent, followed by the counties of Lake, Ill. (15.6 percent), Douglas, Colo. (12.6 percent), and Westmoreland, Pa. (9.8 percent).
Eight large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Among the five largest decreases in wages, Rockingham, N.H., had the greatest decline (-12.4 percent), followed by the counties of Trumbull, Ohio (-7.2 percent), Sedgwick, Kan. (-4.1 percent), Lake, Fla. (-3.9 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-2.4 percent).
Wage Levels in Michigan’s Smaller Counties
Seventy-two of the 73 smaller counties in Michigan with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national level of $898. The exception was Midland County, which reported average weekly wages of $918. The second-highest wage among the smaller counties was $852 in Monroe County. Keweenaw County reported the lowest average weekly wage at $407 in the fourth quarter of 2007. (See table 2.)
When all 83 counties in Michigan were considered, 22 counties in the State reported average weekly wages under $600, 33 reported average weekly wages between $600 and $699, and 18 had average weekly wages between $700 and $799. Ten counties had average weekly wages of $800 or more and three (Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb) were in the Detroit-Livonia-Warren Metropolitan Area.
State Average Weekly Wages
At the state level, the average weekly wage in Michigan was $873, $15 below the nationwide figure, ranking 17th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. (See table 3.) The five highest wage levels in the nation were in the District of Columbia ($1,506), New York ($1,152), Connecticut ($1,149), Massachusetts ($1,133) and New Jersey ($1,092). All had wages at least 20 percent higher than the national average. Three states had average earnings of less than 75 percent of the national average: South Dakota ($647), Mississippi ($654), and Montana ($659).
Michigan experienced wage growth of 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, ranking 49th among the 50 States and District of Columbia. Wage gains in the neighboring states of Ohio (2.8 percent), Indiana (3.0), and Wisconsin (3.1) were slightly higher, but still ranked in the bottom quartile among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. (See table 3.) Nationwide, the highest over-the-year wage gains in the fourth quarter of 2007 were recorded by Arkansas (9.2 percent), North Dakota (7.3 percent), and Wyoming (7.1 percent). The only state to report a decline in average weekly wages was New Hampshire, where wages were down 0.3 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 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 9.1 million employer reports cover 137.0 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 (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 this 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 representation of QCEW data; the data tables themselves are published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF. The 2006 bulletin is available in a PDF on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm. 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.
For personal assistance or further information on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Midwest Information Office in Chicago at (312) 353-1880 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.
TECHNICAL NOTE
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 reasonssome 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.
Area | Employment | Average Weekly Wage (3) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
December 2007 (thousands) | Percent change, December 2006-07(5) | Average weekly wage | National ranking by level (4) | Percent change, fourth quarter 2006-07 (5) | National ranking by percent change (4) | |
United States (6) |
137,027.3 | 0.8 | $898 | -- | 4.2 | -- |
Michigan |
4,194.9 | -1.2 | 873 | 17 | 2.5 | 49 |
Genesee, Mich. |
143.9 | -3.2 | 802 | 188 | 2.8 | 226 |
Ingham, Mich. |
163.1 | 0.2 | 859 | 139 | 4.4 | 116 |
Kalamazoo, Mich. |
116.5 | -1.0 | 799 | 191 | 3.9 | 141 |
Kent, Mich. |
341.0 | -1.1 | 804 | 183 | 1.6 | 285 |
Macomb, Mich. |
313.3 | -2.5 | 922 | 91 | 3.7 | 152 |
Oakland, Mich. |
696.6 | -1.3 | 1,049 | 46 | 1.8 | 278 |
Ottawa, Mich. |
108.1 | -2.2 | 761 | 243 | 0.0 | 307 |
Saginaw, Mich. |
86.3 | -3.7 | 756 | 248 | 0.5 | 302 |
Washtenaw, Mich. |
194.1 | -1.2 | 957 | 72 | 3.5 | 172 |
Wayne, Mich. |
751.0 | -2.6 | 991 | 60 | 2.2 | 264 |
- Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
- Data are preliminary.
- Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
- Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
- Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
Area | Employment December 2007 | Average weekly wage (3) |
---|---|---|
United States (4) |
137,027,300 | $898 |
Michigan -- Statewide |
4,194,919 | 873 |
Alcona |
1,687 | 558 |
Alger |
2,895 | 664 |
Allegan |
34,101 | 768 |
Alpena |
11,740 | 626 |
Antrim |
5,562 | 535 |
Arenac |
5,062 | 565 |
Baraga |
3,531 | 646 |
Barry |
12,131 | 706 |
Bay |
37,054 | 718 |
Benzie |
3,951 | 538 |
Berrien |
62,754 | 757 |
Branch |
13,804 | 689 |
Calhoun |
56,165 | 806 |
Cass |
9,375 | 635 |
Charlevoix |
9,883 | 671 |
Cheboygan |
6,526 | 579 |
Chippewa |
13,167 | 640 |
Clare |
6,941 | 613 |
Clinton |
14,886 | 715 |
Crawford |
3,953 | 661 |
Delta |
14,233 | 637 |
Dickinson |
13,982 | 695 |
Eaton |
31,711 | 748 |
Emmet |
17,326 | 679 |
Genesee |
143,861 | 802 |
Gladwin |
4,793 | 585 |
Gogebic |
6,016 | 552 |
Grand Traverse |
47,072 | 716 |
Gratiot |
13,590 | 660 |
Hillsdale |
12,859 | 709 |
Houghton |
12,516 | 597 |
Huron |
11,870 | 630 |
Ingham |
163,058 | 859 |
Ionia |
17,949 | 660 |
Iosco |
7,280 | 554 |
Iron |
3,924 | 568 |
Isabella |
30,451 | 624 |
Jackson |
55,560 | 766 |
Kalamazoo |
116,492 | 799 |
Kalkaska |
3,826 | 761 |
Kent |
341,010 | 804 |
Keweenaw |
469 | 407 |
Lake |
1,414 | 667 |
Lapeer |
20,793 | 644 |
Leelanau |
5,599 | 574 |
Lenawee |
29,394 | 687 |
Livingston |
47,271 | 761 |
Luce |
1,890 | 655 |
Mackinac |
3,516 | 571 |
Macomb |
313,330 | 922 |
Manistee |
7,484 | 670 |
Marquette |
28,360 | 678 |
Mason |
9,967 | 628 |
Mecosta |
11,790 | 670 |
Menominee |
7,838 | 581 |
Midland |
35,343 | 918 |
Missaukee |
2,730 | 590 |
Monroe |
40,876 | 852 |
Montcalm |
15,239 | 644 |
Montmorency |
2,109 | 522 |
Muskegon |
63,144 | 708 |
Newaygo |
10,675 | 621 |
Oakland |
696,649 | 1,049 |
Oceana |
6,810 | 541 |
Ogemaw |
6,385 | 523 |
Ontonagon |
2,076 | 609 |
Osceola |
5,728 | 737 |
Oscoda |
2,339 | 521 |
Otsego |
10,490 | 664 |
Ottawa |
108,086 | 761 |
Presque Isle |
3,002 | 604 |
Roscommon |
5,611 | 537 |
Saginaw |
86,267 | 756 |
St. Clair |
50,085 | 706 |
St. Joseph |
22,168 | 718 |
Sanilac |
11,091 | 587 |
Schoolcraft |
2,857 | 649 |
Shiawassee |
16,763 | 591 |
Tuscola |
11,802 | 647 |
Van Buren |
22,490 | 685 |
Washtenaw |
194,059 | 957 |
Wayne |
751,033 | 991 |
Wexford |
14,449 | 647 |
Last Modified Date: September 3, 2008