Western Information Office

CONTACT: Media Interviews (415) 625-2270 (415) 625-2284 Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/ro9/news.htm

BLS 08-48 FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The average weekly wage in Clark County was $796 in the third quarter of 2007, 5.9 percent higher than a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Washoe County’s weekly wage averaged $776, advancing 3.7 percent over the year. Clark and Washoe were the only large counties in Nevada, meaning they had 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2006 annual average employment. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that nationally, the average weekly wage was $818, growing at a 4.3-percent pace over the year. (See table 1.)

The average weekly wage in Clark County ranked 129th among the nation’s 328 large counties in the third quarter of 2007, and Washoe County placed 151st in the national ranking. Clark County ranked 36th in wage growth, while Washoe County ranked 149th.

Wage Levels in Large Counties

Average weekly wages were higher than the nationwide average in 112 of the largest 328 U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,585. New York County, N.Y., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,544, followed by Washington D.C. ($1,376), Arlington, Va. ($1,364), and San Mateo, Calif. (1,322).

There were 215 counties with an average weekly wage below the national average in the third quarter of 2007. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($518), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($529), Horry, S.C ($536), Webb, Texas, ($548 each), and Yakima, Wash. ($568).

Wage Changes in Large Counties

Over the year, the average weekly wage rose by 4.3 percent nationally. Among the largest counties, Clayton, Ga., led the nation in growth in average weekly wages 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).

Nationally, 10 large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Trumbull Ohio, had the greatest decline (-10.6 percent), followed by Vanderburgh, Ind., (-6.1 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-4.0 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-3.1 percent), and Montgomery, Ohio (-3.0 percent).

Employment Changes in Large Counties

Employment declined in Clark and Washoe Counties by 0.3 and 0.4 percent, respectively, from September 2006 to September 2007. Nationwide, employment declined in 86 counties, with the largest percentage decline occurring in Trumbull County, Ohio (-5.7 percent). A total of 217 large counties experienced employment increases, but only 130 grew faster than the national average of 0.9 percent. Orleans County, La., had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment with an 8.6-percent gain, followed by Fort Bend, Texas (7.1 percent). The large employment gains in Orleans County reflected the continued recovery from the substantial job losses that occurred in 2005 and 2006, which were related to Hurricane Katrina.

State Average Weekly Wages

Nevada had an average weekly wage of $792 in the third quarter of 2007, $26 below that for the nation, ranking it 19th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Across the country, the five highest average wage levels were in the District of Columbia ($1,376), Connecticut ($1,021), New York ($1,009), Massachusetts ($1,002), and New Jersey ($965). Average weekly wages in this group were 18 percent or more above the national average. In contrast, three states had average weekly wage levels at or less than 75 percent of the national average: South Dakota ($598), Mississippi ($607), and Montana ($608).

Average weekly wages in Nevada rose 5.5 percent from the third quarter of 2006, the fifth highest rate in the nation. The highest over-the-year percentage increase in wages for the third quarter of 2007 was recorded by Washington (6.7 percent), followed by Connecticut (6.6 percent). Rhode Island was the only state to record an over-the-year decline in wages, down 0.1 percent. The smallest wage gains among the states were registered in Delaware (1.2 percent), Indiana (2.2 percent), and Michigan (2.4 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 employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The 9.0 million employer reports cover 136.2 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage is computed by dividing the total quarterly payroll of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees. This number 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 Note below) and will not necessarily 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 will contain 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 will include 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 will be available for sale in early 2008 from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250, telephone (866) 512-1800, outside Washington, D.C. Within Washington, D.C., the telephone number is (202) 512-1800. The fax number is (202) 512-2104. Also, the 2006 bulletin will be available in a portable document format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm. In addition, the quarterly press release, County Employment and Wages, presents employment and wage data for the largest counties in the U.S. and is available at www.bls.gov/cew/.

QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been placed at one convenient 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: 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 Western Information Office in San Francisco at (415) 625-2270 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PDT.

Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 2 largest counties in Nevada, third quarter 2007(2)

Area	Employment		Average Weekly Wage (3)
	September 2007 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2006-07 (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (4)	Percent change, third quarter 2006-07 (5)	National ranking by percent change (4)
United States (6)	136,246.9	0.9	$818	—	4.3	—
Nevada	1,286.4	-0.1	792	19	5.5	5
Clark, Nev.	920.2	-0.3	796	129	5.9	36
Washoe, Nev.	220.6	-0.4	776	151	3.7	149
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) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (5) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for 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, third quarter 2007(2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2007 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2006-07	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, third quarter 2006-07	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	136,246.9	0.9	$818	-	4.3	-
Alabama	1,959.0	1.1	707	32	3.7	37
Alaska	327.3	0.7	840	13	5.4	9
Arizona	2,644.9	0.5	783	20	4.1	25
Arkansas	1,184.5	0.3	629	46	4.1	25
California	15,755.0	0.7	932	6	4.5	18
Colorado	2,314.3	2.4	844	12	3.2	42
Connecticut	1,696.9	1.0	1,021	2	6.6	2
Delaware	425.2	0.1	860	10	1.2	50
District of Columbia	679.0	0.6	1,376	1	5.3	12
Florida	7,879.9	-0.9	741	26	4.1	25
Georgia	4,089.4	1.2	782	21	4.1	25
Hawaii	624.4	0.3	760	22	5.4	9
Idaho	675.5	2.2	634	45	3.4	41
Illinois	5,917.6	0.6	866	9	4.0	32
Indiana	2,937.4	0.5	702	34	2.2	49
Iowa	1,494.5	0.9	668	40	4.2	22
Kansas	1,368.7	1.7	680	38	2.7	46
Kentucky	1,814.3	1.0	676	39	3.0	44
Louisiana	1,880.8	2.7	716	31	4.5	18
Maine	615.3	0.7	660	44	3.9	35
Maryland	2,563.7	0.7	892	7	4.1	25
Massachusetts	3,261.0	1.0	1,002	4	5.5	5
Michigan	4,218.2	-1.4	808	16	2.4	48
Minnesota	2,713.3	0.9	822	15	4.6	16
Mississippi	1,142.2	0.6	607	50	3.8	36
Missouri	2,746.7	0.8	719	29	4.2	22
Montana	446.1	2.7	608	49	4.6	16
Nebraska	922.7	1.7	666	41	5.4	9
Nevada	1,286.4	-0.1	792	19	5.5	5
New Hampshire	637.2	0.3	799	18	3.2	42
New Jersey	3,985.2	0.1	965	5	3.7	37
New Mexico	830.4	0.8	682	37	4.1	25
New York	8,585.3	1.3	1,009	3	6.1	3
North Carolina	4,104.1	2.4	719	29	3.5	40
North Dakota	347.4	1.5	621	48	5.8	4
Ohio	5,331.9	-0.2	745	25	2.8	45
Oklahoma	1,548.2	1.8	666	41	5.5	5
Oregon	1,751.7	1.2	750	24	4.2	22
Pennsylvania	5,673.4	0.5	802	17	4.4	20
Rhode Island	486.1	-1.0	759	23	-0.1	51
South Carolina	1,904.7	1.7	664	43	3.6	39
South Dakota	397.5	2.0	598	51	4.7	15
Tennessee	2,774.4	0.5	728	28	4.3	21
Texas	10,304.9	2.9	825	14	5.0	13
Utah	1,231.6	3.6	696	36	5.5	5
Vermont	305.2	-0.2	699	35	4.0	32
Virginia	3,686.6	1.0	857	11	5.0	13
Washington	2,976.5	2.1	878	8	6.7	1
West Virginia	713.8	0.3	623	47	4.0	32
Wisconsin	2,802.3	-0.1	705	33	2.6	47
Wyoming	284.3	3.6	734	27	4.1	25
Puerto Rico	1,008.0	-1.1	453	(5)	2.5	(5)
Virgin Islands	45.0	0.7	682	(5)	-0.3	(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: June 18, 2008