February 3, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Travis County, Texas had biggest pay increase in 1998

Of the Nation's largest counties, Travis County, Texas, led in growth in average annual pay with an increase of 15.5 percent from 1997 to 1998.

[Chart data—TXT]

Boulder County, Colorado, was second in pay growth at 13.9 percent, followed by the counties of Fairfax, Virginia (11.4 percent), King, Washington (10.7 percent), and Denton, Texas (9.8 percent).

Hamilton County, Tennessee, had the slowest rate of positive growth (1.4 percent) of the largest counties. Two counties experienced declines in average annual pay in 1998: Ingham, Michigan (-0.4 percent), and Trumbull, Ohio (-0.1 percent).

The BLS Covered Employment and Wages program produced these data. Pay data presented here are for all workers covered by State and Federal unemployment insurance programs. Find more information on pay in large counties in 1998 in "Employment and Average Annual Pay for Large Counties, 1998," news release USDL 00-01. The largest counties are defined as those with covered employment levels of 75,000 or more in 1998.