Internet Address: http://www.bls.gov/ro2/home.htm Media Contact: Michael L. Dolfman,(212) 337-2500 Information: Martin Kohli,(646) 264-3620 FOR RELEASE: December 12, 2008
EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS: FIRST QUARTER 2008
St. Thomas leads territory in employment growth, St. Croix has highest
average wage
Employment in St. Thomas, the largest county in the Virgin
Islands, stood at 24,100 in March 2008, after rising 3.1 percent over
the year. Regional Commissioner Michael L. Dolfman noted that
employment growth in this county exceeded the 1.1-percent increase
reported for the Virgin Islands as a whole over the same time period.
For the United States, employment increased by 0.4 percent from March
2007. (See chart A.)
In the first quarter of 2008, average weekly wages in St. Thomas
decreased 2.5 percent over the year, while territory-wide, the average
rose 3.4 percent. In the United States, wages advanced 2.4 percent
from the first quarter 2007 to the first quarter 2008. (See chart B.)
In the first quarter of 2008, weekly wages averaged $637 in St.
Thomas, $71 less than the territory-wide average of $708. The wage
level for the territory was almost $200 lower, or 22 percent below, the
U.S. average of $905. Although lower than the national average, wages
in the Virgin Islands well exceeded the $489 weekly average in
neighboring Puerto Rico.
Employment
In March 2008, employment in St. Thomas stood at 24,100,
accounting for 52 percent of the territory's workforce. In the two
other counties, workers on St. Croix numbered 19,800 and on St. John,
2,500. In neighboring Puerto Rico, San Juan employment totaled 284,100
in March 2008.
Over the year, employment in St. Thomas grew by 3.1 percent.
Employment also increased in the largest counties of 33 states, with
the fastest growth occurring in Cass, N.D. (3.8 percent). St. Thomas
ranked third in employment growth among the largest counties in each of
the states and territories. On the other hand, employment in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, fell 2.4 percent from March 2007 to March 2008; Wayne,
Mich., registered the steepest decline among the largest counties, down
3.1 percent.
Wage levels
Among the three counties in the Virgin Islands, St. Croix recorded
the highest average weekly wage, $803, in the first quarter of 2008;
even so, the wage was $102 below that for the nation. Average weekly
wages were much lower in St. John ($652) and St. Thomas, ($637).
Average weekly wages in the largest county in each of the states
ranged from $2,805 in New York, N.Y., to $695 in Yellowstone, Mont.
When the territories were also considered, the average wage in St.
Thomas ranked second lowest among the largest counties. Only San Juan,
Puerto Rico, with an average wage of $593, ranked lower.
Over the year, average weekly wages in St. Thomas dropped by 2.5
percent. In 32 states, the largest county had an over-the-year
percentage increase in wages that exceeded the national average of 2.4
percent in the first quarter of 2008; in 5 states, the average weekly
wage in the largest county declined.
Additional statistics and other information
For further information or personal assistance on the Quarterly
Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) 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.
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.
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 this news release. As with the 2005 edition,
this edition includes the data on a CD for enhanced access and
usability with the printed booklet containing selected graphic
representations of QCEW data; the data tables themselves have been
published exclusively in electronic formats as PDFs. The 2006 bulletin
is available in a PDF on the BLS Web site at
http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm.
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 9.1
million employer reports cover 134.8 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.
NYLS -7355 New York Labor
12/04/06
Table 1. Covered1 employment and wages in the United States, the Virgin Islands,
and St. Thomas, first quarter 20082
Employment Average weekly wage3
______________________ _____________________
Percent
Area March change, Average Percent
2008 March weekly change,
(thousands) 2007-084 wage 2007-084
____________________________________________________________________________________
United States5 134,761.1 0.4 $905 2.4
Virgin Islands 46.5 1.1 708 3.4
St. Thomas 24.1 3.1 637 -2.5
____________________________________________________________________________________
1Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
2Data are preliminary.
3Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
4Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for
noneconomic county reclassifications.
5Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin
Islands.
Table 2. Covered1 employment and wages, the United States, the Virgin Islands
and counties in the Virgin Islands, first quarter, 20082
Employment
March Average
Area 2008 weekly
(thousands) wage3
______________________________________________________________________________
United States4 134,761.1 $905
Virgin Islands 46.5 708
St. Croix 19.8 803
St. John 2.5 652
St. Thomas 24.1 637
______________________________________________________________________________
1Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
2Data are preliminary.
3Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
4Totals 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, first quarter 20082
Employment Average weekly wage3
____________ ___________________________________________
Percent National
National change, ranking
Area March Average ranking first by
2008 weekly by quarter percent
(thousands) wage level4 2007-08 change4
_________________________________________________________________________________________
United States5 134,761.1 $905 - 2.4 -
Alabama 1,947.0 740 34 3.2 27
Alaska 303.0 866 16 4.2 11
Arizona 2,639.7 820 22 2.4 34
Arkansas 1,178.4 667 46 4.1 12
California 15,561.5 1,008 6 2.1 41
Colorado 2,300.0 920 10 3.6 16
Connecticut 1,683.9 1,254 3 -0.6 51
Delaware 418.4 987 7 0.1 49
District of Columbia 680.8 1,488 1 4.3 9
Florida 7,918.6 777 26 1.8 43
Georgia 4,060.9 847 20 1.3 44
Hawaii 628.1 773 28 3.5 19
Idaho 645.3 635 48 0.3 48
Illinois 5,796.1 980 8 2.6 33
Indiana 2,858.7 757 33 2.4 34
Iowa 1,469.8 710 40 3.6 16
Kansas 1,363.2 737 35 2.4 34
Kentucky 1,794.0 714 39 2.4 34
Louisiana 1,887.3 765 30 4.8 4
Maine 584.1 701 42 3.5 19
Maryland 2,530.3 963 9 2.8 31
Massachusetts 3,203.1 1,143 4 3.3 23
Michigan 4,058.8 857 18 0.9 47
Minnesota 2,644.8 908 12 4.0 13
Mississippi 1,138.2 634 49 3.3 23
Missouri 2,708.0 768 29 3.5 19
Montana 432.4 625 51 4.3 9
Nebraska 912.2 687 44 3.2 27
Nevada 1,266.3 839 21 4.7 5
New Hampshire 621.2 863 17 3.4 22
New Jersey 3,939.9 1,133 5 3.3 23
New Mexico 823.8 717 38 4.7 5
New York 8,555.0 1,399 2 0.1 49
North Carolina 4,069.1 788 24 1.3 44
North Dakota 343.3 652 47 6.2 2
Ohio 5,189.1 798 23 1.0 46
Oklahoma 1,560.0 707 41 4.7 5
Oregon 1,713.1 776 27 2.9 30
Pennsylvania 5,608.8 869 15 2.4 34
Rhode Island 464.8 851 19 2.3 39
South Carolina 1,888.3 695 43 2.8 31
South Dakota 389.4 632 50 5.2 3
Tennessee 2,746.4 761 31 3.3 23
Texas 10,420.8 903 13 3.6 16
Utah 1,220.2 $718 37 3.2 27
Vermont 300.8 735 36 4.4 8
Virginia 3,653.5 918 11 2.0 42
Washington 2,928.6 899 14 3.7 15
West Virginia 700.3 679 45 4.0 13
Wisconsin 2,734.3 760 32 2.2 40
Wyoming 277.2 779 25 6.7 1
Puerto Rico 1,004.5 489 (6) 2.7 (6)
Virgin Islands 46.5 708 (6) 3.4 (6)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
1Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation
for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
2Data are preliminary.
3Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
4Ranking does not include Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
5Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
6Data not included in the national ranking.
Last Modified Date: December 16, 2008
