The nation added 112,000 new business establishments with paid employees between 2004 and 2005, contributing to 1.24 million new jobs and a 5.4 percent increase in the annual payroll for all such establishments, according to the latest tabulation from the U.S. Census Bureau released today.

     The report, County Business Patterns: 2005, provides data by county on the number of establishments, number of employees, and quarterly and annual payroll for the nation’s 7.5 million businesses with employees.

     “Businesses and planners can use these data to study economic activity and analyze economic changes over time,” said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon.

     Of the 50 counties with the most business locations in 2005, those showing significant growth in the number of businesses with paid employees were: Riverside County, Calif. (5.9 percent); Orange County, Fla. (5.9 percent); Clark County, Nev. (5.6 percent); Maricopa County, Ariz. (5.1 percent); and Palm Beach County, Fla. (4 percent).

     Thirteen of the 20 counties with the highest number of employees saw increases in the number of employees. Of those counties, Clark (6.4 percent) and Maricopa (5.5 percent) saw the fastest rate of growth.

     Several counties saw significant increases in new jobs. Among those with the biggest numeric gains were Maricopa (77,707); Clark (47,643); Orange (33,533); and Riverside (25,672).

     Among the counties with the most employees, New York County (Manhattan), N.Y., had the highest average annual payroll per employee at $85,469. Santa Clara, Calif., was second at $72,888, followed by San Francisco ($66,366); Fairfield, Conn. ($64,238); and Suffolk, Mass. ($64,067). (See Table 1 Excel | PDF).

     Of the top three counties with the highest average annual payroll per employee, New York County had a 6.8 percent increase between 2004 and 2005 per employee. Santa Clara had a 5.5 percent increase and San Francisco had a 14.6 percent increase. (2004 data, Table 2 Excel | PDF).

     County Business Patterns provides data on the total number of private-sector businesses with employees, mid-March employment, first quarter and annual payroll, and number of establishments by nine employment-size classes by detailed industry for all counties in the United States and the District of Columbia. Data are tabulated for most of the 1,100 North American Industry Classification System sectors. Excluded are self-employed people, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production workers and most government employees.

     Data are provided at the state, county, metropolitan statistical area and five-digit ZIP code levels. The metropolitan and ZIP code data will be released later this year. Also later this year: information on businesses without paid employees.