July 26, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Middle Atlantic division had highest earnings in June 2005

The Middle Atlantic division had the highest average hourly earnings among the nine census divisions in June 2005. This division includes the states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

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Private industry and State and local government workers in the Middle Atlantic States earned an average of $21.19 per hour. Workers in the Pacific States and the New England States had the next highest earnings. The division with the lowest hourly earnings was East South Central, with mean earnings of $14.66 per hour.

Mean hourly wages for private industry and State and local government workers in the country as a whole were $18.62 per hour in June 2005.

These data are from the BLS National Compensation Survey program. Learn more in National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, June 2005, Summary 06-04 (PDF). Note that the Middle Atlantic division also includes the New York City metropolitan area—which consists of parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut—and the Philadelphia area—which consists of parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.