Bureau of Labor Statistics
Internet Address: http://www.bls.gov/ro2/ FOR RELEASE: April 2, 2008 Media Contact: Michael L. Dolfman,(212) 337-2500 Information: Martin Kohli,(646) 264-3620 COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN NEW YORK: SECOND QUARTER 2007 Employment growth in Queens and Saratoga Counties leads State Queens and Saratoga Counties recorded over-the-year employment growth of 2.3 percent each in June 2007, the fastest increase among New York's largest counties, those with 75,000 or more jobs (as measured by 2006 average annual employment), according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Michael L. Dolfman noted that the growth rate for both Queens and Saratoga was well above the national average of 1.2 percent. (See chart A.) Six other large New York counties also exceeded the nationwide increase. In the second quarter of 2007, average weekly wages in Queens County increased 12.7 percent over the year, the fastest growth among New York's 18 large counties. Queens County's wage growth ranked 2nd highest among the 328 large counties in the nation and was well above the national increase of 4.6 percent. (See chart B.) Rockland County ranked second in the State with 6.5-percent growth, followed by New York and Oneida Counties with wage gains of 6.4 and 6.3 percent, respectively. All 3 of these counties ranked among the top 40 in the nation in wage growth in the second quarter of 2007.Among the 18 large counties, New York (more commonly known as Manhattan) recorded the highest average weekly wage at $1,540 in the second quarter of 2007, followed by Westchester at $1,119. New York County's average weekly wage also ranked first among the 328 large counties nationwide. Eight of the 18 large counties (44 percent) in the State reported average weekly wages above the national average of $820 per week. Nationally, 110 of the 328 large counties (33.5 percent) reported wages above that for the nation. Wage and employment levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 44 other counties in New York State with less than 75,000 in employment. The vast majority of these counties, 40, had an average wage below the national average. (See table 2.) Employment in large counties Employment in New York's largest counties ranged from a high of 2,363,800 in Manhattan to a low of 78,800 in Saratoga in June 2007. (With its job gains in 2006, Saratoga became the newest entry into the ranks of the large counties, surpassing the threshold of 75,000 in average annual employment.) All together, large counties in New York accounted for 84 percent of the State's employment, while nationally, large counties accounted for 71 percent of employment. Eight of New York's large counties had employment growth exceeding the national average, led by 2.3-percent increases in both Queens and Saratoga. Among the nation's 328 largest counties, the two highest in New York ranked 62nd in employment growth. Westchester County had the third highest growth in the State, up 2.1 percent. Other counties with above-average gains were New York, Kings, Richmond, Rockland, and Broome Counties; employment growth in this group ranged from 1.9 to 1.6 percent. In contrast, three counties -Monroe and Erie in western New York and Dutchess in the Hudson Valley-lost jobs over the year, down either 0.1 or 0.2 percent. Nationally, employment rose in 235 of the 328 large counties from June 2006 to June 2007. Orleans County, La., which includes the city of New Orleans, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment with a 10.8-percent growth rate. Harrison County, Miss., followed closely behind Orleans with an over-the-year gain of 10.3 percent. Employment gains in Orleans and Harrison reflected continued recovery from substantial losses that occurred in September 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina. Employment fell in 77 counties. Trumbull County, Ohio, had the largest decline, 6.3 percent. Over-the-year changes in wages in large counties Eight of the 18 (44 percent) large counties in New York had wage increases exceeding that for the nation in the second quarter of 2007, with Queens County's 12.7-percent increase the highest in the State and second highest nationwide among the 328 largest counties. Rockland, New York, and Oneida Counties followed with growth rates of 6.5, 6.4, and 6.2 percent, respectively, and placed 30th, 33rd, and 39th. The remaining four with above-average growth-Nassau, Saratoga, Westchester, and Bronx-all ranked among the top 60 in the nation in growth. Broome County's wage gain of 4.6 percent matched the national average. Eight of the large counties posted below-average growth rates ranging from 4.5 to 3.4 percent. Monroe County had the smallest gain at 1.9 percent. Among the largest counties in the United States, Clayton County, Ga., led the nation in growth in average weekly wages, with an increase of 87.3 percent from the second quarter of 2006. Queens, N.Y., was second with growth of 12.7 percent, 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 led by Saginaw, Mich., down 5.2 percent. Wage levels in large counties Eight of New York's large counties had average weekly wages above the national average in the second quarter of 2007, but only New York and Westchester exceeded $1,000. Nassau County averaged $953 and ranked 45th nationally. Three counties-Rockland, Suffolk, and Queens-had average wages ranging from $900 to $886. Two other counties-Albany and Dutchess-had average weekly wages below $860 but still above the $820 U.S. average. Ten of the large counties had average weekly wages below that for the nation. Of these, weekly wages in Oneida and Broome Counties ranked lowest at $668 and $664, respectively. Nationally, Santa Clara, Calif. ($1,504), Clayton, Ga. ($1,358), and Washington, D.C. ($1,357) followed New York in average weekly earnings. The lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron County, Texas ($515), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, Texas ($518), Horry, S.C., and Webb, Texas ($545 each), and Yakima, Wash. ($555). Employment and wage levels in small counties Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for New York's 44 small counties, those with less than 75,000 as measured by 2006 average annual employment. These counties accounted for 16 percent of statewide employment. Among the small counties, Niagara reported the highest job total in June 2007 with 75,500 employees, followed by Schenectady with 65,000 and Ulster with 63,500. Hamilton County had the distinction of having the fewest jobs-2,300. Steuben had the highest average weekly wage in the State among the small counties at $919, which was almost $100 above the nationwide average. Schenectady, Tioga, and Putnam each exceeded the U.S. average with wage rates of $846, $844, and $842, respectively. Rennselaer and Tompkins had average weekly wages below that for the nation at $807 and $725. The remaining 38 smaller counties had average weekly wages below $700. Yates County, in western New York, and Hamilton County, in the Adirondacks, had the lowest average weekly wages at $523 and $506, respectively. (See chart 1.) When all 62 counties in New York are considered, 12 had average weekly wages above the $820 national average. With the exception of Schenectady, Steuben and Tioga, these counties were clustered in New York City, on Long Island, or in the Hudson River valley. 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. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006 is now available for sale from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250, telephone 866-512-1800, outside of Washington, D.C. Within Washington, D.C., the telephone number is 202-512-1800. The fax number is 202-512-2104. The The bulletin is available in a portable document format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm. Also, the quarterly press release, County Employment and Wages, presents employment and wage data for the largest counties in the United States and is available at http://www.bls.gov/cew/. 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 Covered Employment and Wages Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the New York-New Jersey Information Office at (646) 264-3600 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. NYLS - 7325 Labor - New York 03/31/08 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. Average weekly 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 wage is first compiled 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 the quarter. It is to be noted 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 http://www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases may not match the data contained on the Bureau's Web site because of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Table 1. Covered1 employment and wages in the United States, New York State, and large counties, second quarter 20072 Employment Average weekly wage3 ----------------------- ---------------------------------------- Percent National June change, National Percent rank by 2007 June Level rank by change percent (thousands) 2006-074 2007 level5 2006-074 change5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States6 137,018.2 1.2 $820 - 4.6 - New York State 8,688.8 1.3 1,020 3 5.9 7 Albany 229.0 0.1 855 90 4.1 148 Bronx 224.4 0.6 805 126 5.6 59 Broome 97.5 1.6 664 280 4.6 110 Dutchess 119.4 -0.2 842 97 4.5 122 Erie 458.9 -0.2 724 212 4.3 136 Kings 472.4 1.8 714 227 3.8 170 Monroe 385.8 -0.1 804 128 1.9 290 Nassau 616.6 0.8 953 45 5.9 50 New York 2,363.8 1.9 1,540 1 6.4 33 Oneida 112.8 0.3 668 279 6.2 39 Onondaga 256.0 1.0 762 161 3.4 213 Orange 132.9 0.6 729 206 3.6 194 Queens 501.2 2.3 886 70 12.7 2 Richmond 93.8 1.7 734 201 3.7 183 Rockland 117.8 1.7 900 62 6.5 30 Saratoga 78.8 2.3 703 242 5.7 54 Suffolk 640.0 0.8 891 67 4.1 148 Westchester 430.4 2.1 1,119 15 5.7 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for any noneconomic county reclassifications. 5 Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 6 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. Table 2. Covered1 employment and wages in the United States, New York State, and counties in New York, second quarter, 20072 Employment Employment June Average June Average 2007 weekly 2007 weekly Area (thousands) wage3 Area (thousands) wage3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States4 137,018.2 $820 New York 2,363.8 $1,540 Niagara 75.5 673 New York 8,688.8 1,020 Oneida 112.8 668 Onondaga 256.0 762 Albany 229.0 855 Ontario 51.6 681 Allegany 13.9 601 Orange 132.9 729 Bronx 224.4 805 Orleans 13.3 624 Broome 97.5 664 Oswego 34.4 685 Cattaraugus 31.9 624 Otsego 25.3 625 Cayuga 27.4 622 Putnam 26.9 842 Chautauqua 57.2 588 Chemung 39.7 673 Queens 501.2 886 Chenango 16.8 644 Rennselaer 52.3 807 Clinton 35.2 683 Richmond 93.8 734 Rockland 117.8 900 Columbia 21.8 653 Saratoga 78.8 703 Cortland 17.2 609 Schenectady 65.3 846 Delaware 17.6 631 Schoharie 9.6 593 Dutchess 119.4 842 Schuyler 5.1 581 Erie 458.9 724 Seneca 11.7 660 Essex 15.7 636 St. Lawrence 37.2 658 Franklin 19.4 669 Fulton 18.7 623 Steuben 38.3 919 Genesee 25.2 593 Suffolk 640.0 891 Greene 15.0 657 Sullivan 26.9 643 Tioga 15.2 844 Hamilton 2.3 506 Tompkins 50.8 725 Herkimer 17.4 571 Ulster 63.5 695 Jefferson 43.8 630 Warren 41.0 645 Kings 472.4 714 Washington 16.1 682 Lewis 7.0 591 Wayne 31.1 659 Livingston 20.7 636 Westchester 430.4 1,119 Madison 22.5 596 Monroe 385.8 804 Wyoming 15.1 633 Montgomery 19.6 628 Yates 7.0 523 Nassau 616.6 953 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Table 3. Covered1 employment and wages by state and territory, second quarter 20072 Employment Average weekly wage3 ---------- -------------------------------------------- National Area June Average National Percent rank 2007 weekly rank by change, by percent (thousands) wage level4 2006-07 change4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ United States5 137,018.2 $820 - 4.6 - Alabama 1,965.4 697 38 3.6 38 Alaska 325.8 832 13 5.6 9 Arizona 2,612.4 786 20 4.4 23 Arkansas 1,186.5 639 46 4.2 28 California 15,832.5 935 6 5.4 11 Colorado 2,326.9 832 13 4.8 15 Connecticut 1,714.2 1,033 2 6.4 4 Delaware 430.2 870 9 2.2 51 District of Columbia 683.2 1,357 1 4.3 26 Florida 7,894.2 743 23 3.2 45 Georgia 4,091.5 792 19 6.5 3 Hawaii 631.2 736 27 4.2 28 Idaho 679.1 626 47 2.3 50 Illinois 5,956.3 874 8 4.4 23 Indiana 2,933.4 702 33 2.6 48 Iowa 1,518.6 664 42 3.9 35 Kansas 1,370.7 702 33 4.8 15 Kentucky 1,828.2 700 35 4.2 28 Louisiana 1,880.2 711 31 4.1 31 Maine 619.6 658 44 4.1 31 Maryland 2,584.9 899 7 5.3 12 Massachusetts 3,300.7 1,008 4 4.8 15 Michigan 4,252.9 807 17 2.9 46 Minnesota 2,730.9 834 12 5.6 9 Mississippi 1,137.4 609 50 3.6 38 Missouri 2,764.6 727 29 3.4 43 Montana 449.8 611 49 6.3 5 Nebraska 930.9 654 45 3.5 42 Nevada 1,297.9 776 21 3.7 36 New Hampshire 643.7 823 16 6.3 5 New Jersey 4,066.7 989 5 4.3 26 New Mexico 833.3 686 39 5.2 13 New York 8,688.8 1,020 3 5.9 7 North Carolina 4,090.5 718 30 4.1 31 North Dakota 347.7 619 48 4.7 19 Ohio 5,384.6 740 25 3.4 43 Oklahoma 1,538.5 665 40 4.1 31 Oregon 1,761.6 742 24 4.5 22 Pennsylvania 5,740.3 802 18 4.6 20 Rhode Island 492.9 774 22 2.5 49 South Carolina 1,917.4 665 40 2.9 46 South Dakota 404.3 590 51 4.8 15 Tennessee 2,768.7 729 28 3.6 38 Texas 10,296.1 827 15 5.9 7 Utah 1,233.7 698 36 6.6 2 Vermont 306.6 698 36 5.0 14 Virginia 3,731.5 859 10 4.4 23 Washington 2,989.8 835 11 4.6 20 West Virginia 717.1 659 43 3.6 38 Wisconsin 2,845.8 709 32 3.7 36 Wyoming 288.3 739 26 8.0 1 Puerto Rico 1,020.7 460 6 6.0 6 Virgin Islands 46.9 707 6 4.1 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. 5 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. 6 Data not included in the national ranking.
Last Modified Date: April 3, 2008
