Bureau of Labor Statistics
| Internet: http://www.bls.gov/ro5/ | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| GENERAL INFORMATION: (312) 353-1880 | Thursday, February 7, 2008 |
| MEDIA CONTACT: Paul LaPorte | |
| (312) 353-1138 |
AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN SOUTH DAKOTA: SECOND QUARTER 2007
The average weekly wage in Minnehaha County was $677 in the second quarter of 2007, 5.3 percent higher than it was one year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Jay A. Mousa noted that Minnehaha’s average weekly wage was $143 below the national level of $820; however, its wage growth was higher than the nationwide increase of 4.6 percent. Minnehaha was the only large county in South Dakota—that is, it had 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2006 annual average employment.
Nationally, there were 328 large counties of which 218 had average weekly wages below the national average. Minnehaha County’s wage placed it 274th, in the bottom quartile of the national ranking. The county’s faster-than-average wage growth ranked higher at 73rd.
Large County Average Weekly Wages
Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 110 of the 328 largest counties in the United States. New York County, N.Y., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $1,540. Santa Clara, Calif., was second highest with an average weekly wage of $1,504, followed by Clayton County, Ga. ($1,358), Washington, D.C. ($1,357), and Arlington, Va. ($1,352).
At the other end of the spectrum, Cameron County, Texas, reported the lowest average weekly wage ($515), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($518), Horry, S.C., and Webb, Texas ($545, each), and Yakima, Wash. ($555).
Over the year, the national average weekly wage rose by 4.6 percent. Among the largest counties, Clayton County, Ga., led the nation in wage growth with an increase of 87.3 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007. Queens, N.Y., was second with 12.7-percent growth, followed by the counties of Rockingham, N.H. (10.1 percent), Ventura, Calif. (9.2 percent), and Lake, Ill. (9.1 percent).
Six large counties experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages. Among the five largest decreases in wages, Saginaw, Mich., had the greatest decline (-5.2 percent), followed by the counties of Orleans, La. (-2.9 percent), Lake, Fla. (-1.1 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-1.0 percent), and Lorain, Ohio (-0.9 percent).
State Average Weekly Wages
South Dakota’s wage of $590 placed it at the bottom of the national ranking in the second quarter of 2007, $230 below that for the nation. The State was one of three in the country, along with Mississippi ($609) and Montana ($611) that had an average weekly wage that was less than 75 percent of the national level. The five highest wage levels in the U.S. were in the District of Columbia ($1,357), Connecticut ($1,033), New York ($1,020), Massachusetts ($1,008), and New Jersey ($989). Average weekly wages in this group were more than 20 percent above that for the nation.
Average weekly wages in South Dakota rose 4.8 percent over the year, placing the State in the upper third of the national ranking in wage growth at 15th. Wyoming experienced a wage gain of 8.0 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the second quarter of 2007, higher than any other state. Utah was second with 6.6-percent growth. Rounding out the top five were Georgia (6.5 percent), Connecticut (6.4 percent), and Montana and New Hampshire (6.3 percent, each). The smallest wage gains were in Delaware (2.2 percent) and Idaho (2.3 percent). No state experienced an over-the-year decline in wages.
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 8.9 million employer reports cover 137.0 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly 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 the national news release. As with the 2005 edition, this edition will also include 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 will be published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF and fixed-width text files. 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.
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 Midwest Information Office in Chicago at (312) 353-1880 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT.
TECHNICAL NOTE
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.
Last Modified Date: February 7, 2008
