New York Office Internet Address: http://www.bls.gov/ro2/ Media Contact: Michael L. Dolfman,(212) 337-2500 Information: Martin Kohli,(646) 264-3620 FOR RELEASE: December 17, 2008
AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE IN MANHATTAN DROPS 1.0 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER 2008
Queens Exceeds Nation in Wage and Employment Growth
The average weekly wage in New York County, more commonly known as
the borough of Manhattan, dropped 1.0 percent over the year in the first
quarter of 2008. Regional Commissioner Michael L. Dolfman noted that
Manhattan's first quarter over-the-year decline contrasted with the
double-digit wage growth in the first quarter of three of the past four
years. Among the other counties that comprise New York City, Queens,
with an over-the-year wage gain of 3.1 percent, was the only borough to
exceed the national increase of 2.4 percent. (See chart A.)
Despite the over-the-year wage decline in Manhattan, its average
weekly wage, $2,805 remained the highest among the nation's largest
counties, those with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by annual average
employment in 2007. Queens led the outer boroughs with an average weekly
wage of $852, although all of the New York City counties outside of
Manhattan lagged the national average weekly wage of $905.
From March a year ago, all but one of the five counties comprising
New York City had employment growth above the national rate of 0.4
percent. Queens County had the largest employment increase, 2.3 percent,
followed by Bronx County (2.2 percent), and Kings County (2.1 percent).
(See chart B.)
Over-the-year Wage Changes
Although Queens was the only county in New York City to record a
wage increase larger than the national average, wages also rose over the
year in Bronx and Richmond Counties, up 2.3 and 2.1 percent,
respectively. The wage increase in Queens, ranked 129th among the
nation's 334 large counties, while Bronx and Richmond Counties placed
192nd and 204th, respectively. (See table 1.) New York County (-1.0
percent) and Kings County (-1.2 percent) were 2 of only 34 large counties
nationwide to experience over-the-year declines in average weekly wages.
Manhattan ranked 311th nationally, in over-the-year wage changes, after
ranking 2nd only one year ago.
In Manhattan, two industry groups experienced over-the-year wage
declines in the first quarter of 2008-manufacturing (-4.1 percent) and
financial activities (-3.7 percent). (See table 2.) (Because financial
activities employed ten times more workers than manufacturing in New York
County, its wage decline had more of an effect on the county average.)
These first quarter declines followed over-the-year average weekly wage
gains of 14.6 percent in manufacturing and 24.2 percent in financial
activities in the first quarter of 2007. By contrast, the nation as a
whole showed increases in all supersectors. Annual wage gains in the
first quarter were largest in natural resources and mining (10.5
percent), followed by construction (4.8 percent) and professional and
business services (4.2 percent). Average weekly wage growth in the other
sectors ranged from a high of 3.6 in education and health services to a
low of 0.2 percent in financial activities.
Leading the nation in average weekly wage growth was Westmoreland,
Pa., with an increase of 14.9 percent. Williamson, Texas, was second
with growth of 10.8 percent, followed by the counties of Somerset, N.J.
(9.0 percent), San Luis Obispo, Calif. (8.3 percent), and Jefferson,
Texas (7.9 percent). At the other end of the spectrum, the largest over-
the-year declines in average weekly wages were recorded in Mecklenburg,
N.C. (-3.4 percent), Fairfield, Conn. (-3.8 percent), Rockingham, N.H. (-
3.9 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-4.4 percent), and Trumbull, Ohio, (-17.2
percent). A year ago, Trumbull had led the large counties with a wage
increase of 22.3 percent.
Average Weekly Wages
Manhattan's average weekly wage during the first quarter of 2008 was
more than three times the national average-$2,805 compared to $905. No
other county in New York City had an average weekly wage above that of
the nation. Average wages in Queens, Bronx, Richmond, and Kings were
$852, $803, $745, and $730, respectively, and ranged from 6 to 19 percent
below the national level.
Within Manhattan, the financial activities supersector had the
highest average weekly wage, $9,840. (See table 2.) As is often typical
during the first quarter, the payment of year-end bonuses and commissions
in finance contributed to the high average. The next highest average
wage was in information ($2,698) followed by natural resources and mining
($2,375) and professional and business services ($2,343). Leisure and
hospitality had the lowest average wage of any industry supersector,
$766. Wages in every supersector in Manhattan were higher than their
respective national industry averages. The largest percentage
differential occurred in financial activities, with wages 418 percent
above the U.S. average; the smallest occurred in government, with wages
16 percent above the national level.
Among the 334 largest counties in the nation, Fairfield, Conn.,
trailed Manhattan with the second highest average weekly wage, $1,905,
followed by Somerset, N.J. ($1,765), Suffolk, Mass. ($1,708), and San
Francisco, Calif. ($1,639). Four of the 10 counties with the highest
wages in the nation were located in the greater New York metropolitan
area (New York, N.Y., Fairfield, Conn., Somerset, N.J., and Hudson,
N.J.), 3 others were located in or around the San Francisco area (San
Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Mateo), while 2 more were located in or
around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (Washington, D.C. and
Arlington, Va.). Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk County, Mass., part
of the Boston metropolitan area. At the other end of the spectrum, the
two counties with the lowest average wages in the nation were Hidalgo
($532) and Cameron ($523), both in Texas.
Employment
In March 2008, employment in Manhattan stood at 2,376,000,
accounting for 65 percent of the New York City total. Over-the-year
employment growth in the City was led by Queens County's 2.3-percent
increase, which ranked 27th followed by Bronx County's 2.2 percent
growth, and Kings County's 2.1 percent growth which ranked 37th and 39th,
respectively. At 1.7 percent, Manhattan's employment increase ranked
56th in the nation. Rounding out New York's five counties, employment
increased by 0.1 percent in Richmond County which ranked 180th.
Nationally, Orleans, La., experienced the largest over-the-year
percentage employment gain, 5.0 percent, compared with the national job
growth of 0.4 percent. Fort Bend and Montgomery County, both in Texas,
tied for the next largest increase, 4.7 percent, followed by Williamson,
Texas (4.6 percent). Overall, employment increased in 189 of the
nation's 334 large counties from March 2007 to March 2008, while 129
registered a decrease in employment. Lee, Fla., had the largest
percentage decline in employment (-8.1 percent), followed by Collier,
Fla. (-7.4 percent), Genesee, Mich. (-6.5 percent), Saginaw, Mich. (-5.2
percent), and Marion, Fla. (-5.1 percent).
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 summaries of employment and total pay
of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI)
legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.1
million employer reports cover 134.8 million full- and part-time workers.
The average weekly wage 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, counties, and the nation are
available on the BLS Web site at http://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 this news release. As with the 2005 edition, this
edition will include 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 will be published exclusively in
electronic formats as PDFs. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006
is available in a PDF on the BLS Web site at
http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn06.htm.
QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been
placed at one convenient BLS Web site location,
http://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 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.
TECHNICAL NOTE
QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply
the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of
establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time.
Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of
reasons-some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative
changes. 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 the states'
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.
NYLS - 7357 Labor - New York
12/15/08
Table 1. Covered1 employment and wages in the United States, New York State,
and five counties in New York City, first quarter 20082
Employment Average weekly wage3
---------- --------------------
National
Area March Percent National Percent rank by
2008 change, Level rank by change, percent
(thousands) 2007-084 2007 level5 2007-084 change5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States6 134,761.1 0.4 $ 905 -- 2.4 --
New York State 8,555.0 1.3 1,399 -- 0.1 --
Bronx 224.6 2.2 803 168 2.3 192
Kings 468.3 2.1 730 251 -1.2 313
New York 2,376.0 1.7 2,805 1 -1.0 311
Queens 499.9 2.3 852 129 3.1 129
Richmond 93.1 0.1 745 230 2.1 204
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
any noneconomic county reclassifications.
5Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
6Totals 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 and New York County,
first quarter 20082
Employment Average weekly wage3
---------- --------------------
Area and supersector March Percent Average Percent
2008 change weekly change
(thousands) 2007-084 wage 2006-074
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States5 134,761.1 0.4 $ 905 2.4
Private industry 112,728.2 0.2 913 2.4
Natural resources and mining 1,731.8 2.7 1020 10.5
Construction 7,020.0 -4.1 898 4.8
Manufacturing 13,529.8 -2.3 1,079 1.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities 26,031.1 0.2 745 1.9
Information 3,013.5 -0.1 1,469 2.3
Financial activities 8,005.6 -1.7 1,898 0.2
Professional and business services 17,691.9 0.5 1,131 4.2
Education and health services 17,845.8 3.0 767 3.6
Leisure and hospitality 13,112.5 1.3 360 2.9
Other services 4,444.1 1.0 547 3.4
Government 22,032.9 1.3 868 2.7
New York, NY 2,376.0 1.7 2,805 -1.0
Private industry 1,923.2 1.9 3,229 -1.4
Natural resources and mining 0.2 -4.5 2,375 23.3
Construction 36.2 8.9 1,596 8.6
Manufacturing 36.0 -6.3 1,499 -4.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities 246.4 0.8 1,211 0.8
Information 134.1 0.7 2,698 5.0
Financial activities 377.6 0.7 9,840 -3.7
Professional and business services 489.3 1.9 2,343 3.8
Education and health services 293.1 1.5 989 3.9
Leisure and hospitality 213.9 3.7 766 2.7
Other services 87.8 1.8 1,105 7.6
Government 452.8 0.8 1,004 1.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 any noneconomic county reclassifications.
5Totals 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 20062
Employment Average weekly wage3
---------- --------------------------------------------
National
Area March Average National Percent ranking
2008 weekly ranking change, by percent
(thousands) wage by 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 17, 2008
