FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE:
Cheryl Abbot, Regional Economist November 5, 2008
(214) 767-6970
http://www.bls.gov/ro6/
PARISH EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN LOUISIANA: FIRST QUARTER 2008
Orleans Parish leads U.S. in over-the-year employment growth
That several Louisiana parishes were continuing to recover from the substantial impact
of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 was evident from their relatively strong employment
growth. Among Louisiana's 7 large parishes, those with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by
2007 annual average employment, Orleans Parish ranked first in the State, as well as the
nation, with over-the year employment growth of 5.0 percent in March 2008. In addition, 3
other parishes in Louisiana had employment gains greater than the national average of 0.4
percent, placing them in the top 30 percent among all 334 large counties nationwide. Regional
Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that while employment growth was mixed, average weekly
wages in all seven of Louisianas large parishes grew at a pace equal to or above the
2.4-percent rate of growth nationwide from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter
of 2008 (See table A.)
Table A. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 7 largest counties in Louisiana,
first quarter 2008 (2)
| Area |
Employment |
Average Weekly Wage (3) |
March 2008
(thousands) |
Percent change,
March 2007-08(4) |
National ranking
by percent
change (5) |
Average
weekly wage |
National ranking
by level (5) |
Percent change,
1st quarter
2007-08 (4) |
National ranking
by percent
change (5) |
United States (6) |
134,761.1 |
0.4 |
-- |
$905 |
-- |
2.4 |
-- |
Louisiana |
1,887.3 |
1.3 |
10 |
765 |
30 |
4.8 |
4 |
Caddo, La. |
126.0 |
0.8 |
101 |
693 |
285 |
2.4 |
184 |
Calcasieu, La. |
86.2 |
-1.1 |
264 |
749 |
226 |
5.8 |
19 |
East Baton Rouge, La. |
265.1 |
1.4 |
65 |
814 |
156 |
4.9 |
30 |
Jefferson, La. |
199.5 |
0.3 |
154 |
797 |
172 |
3.8 |
73 |
Lafayette, La. |
135.3 |
2.0 |
42 |
817 |
153 |
3.9 |
70 |
Orleans, La. |
171.6 |
5.0 |
1 |
1,005 |
55 |
2.7 |
158 |
St. Tammany, La. |
74.8 |
-1.2 |
272 |
689 |
289 |
4.7 |
38 |
Over-the-year employment change
Employment in Orleans Parish rose 5.0 percent from March 2007 to March 2008. Only one
year earlier, from March 2006 to March 2007, employment in Orleans Parish had expanded by
15.0 percent. Though the rate of employment growth was down considerably from the previous
year, it was still the fastest-growing large county nationwide. What's more, Orleans
Parish's nation-leading gains over the past two years stood in marked contrast to the March
2005 to March 2006 period when Orleans experienced the Katrina-related employment decline of
nearly 40 percent placing it last among all large counties in the country. As of March
2008, employment in Orleans Parish was still just 71 percent of the pre-Katrina August 2005
level of 240,530. In comparison, over-the-year employment growth for the nation has slowed
over the past three years, from 2.2 percent in March 2006 to 0.4 in March 2008.
Among the other large parishes in the State, employment in Lafayette rose 2.0 percent
from March a year ago, ranking it 42nd in the country in job growth. East Baton Rouge
followed with a 1.4-percent employment gain and ranked 65th, while Caddo Parish's growth of
0.8 percent ranked 101st. Jefferson Parish experienced the slowest over-the-year employment
increase at 0.3 percent and ranked 154th. The two other large Louisiana parishes experienced
over-the-year declines in March 2008. Employment was down 1.2 percent in St. Tammany (272nd)
and 1.1 percent in Calcasieu (264th).
These seven parishes combined accounted for more than one-half of total employment in
the State in March 2008. Above-average growth rates in a number of the large parishes
helped push statewide employment up 1.3 percent, ranking Louisiana 10th among the 50 states
and the District of Columbia. Orleans Parish aside, the State's employment level of
1,887,300 in March 2008 was little different from the August 2005 pre-Katrina level of
1,889,500.
A total of 189 large counties in the United States experienced employment increases
from March 2007 to March 2008, and 146 of these had over-the-year gains above the national
average of 0.4 percent. As noted previously, employment growth in Orleans Parish stood
first in the national ranking. Fort Bend, Texas, and Montgomery, Texas, tied for the next
largest increase, 4.7 percent, followed by Williamson, Texas (4.6 percent), Douglas, Colo.,
and Potter, Texas (both with gains of 4.1 percent). Employment declines occurred in 129
counties across the country, with the sharpest drops occurring in Lee, Fla. (-8.1 percent),
and Collier, Fla. (-7.4 percent).
Over-the-year wage change
Wage growth was equal to or better than the U.S. average of 2.4 percent in all seven
large parishes in the State from March 2007 to March 2008, with all but one parish, Caddo,
placing in the top half of the national ranking of the largest counties. This differed
notably from the situation a year ago when 3 of the parishes ranked in the bottom 30. In
2007, many workers in lower-paid industries returned to work in Katrina-impacted areas and
as a result, average wage levels rose only modestly or even declined in parishes such as
Orleans.
With wage growth of 5.8 percent from the first quarter of 2007, Calcasieu Parish ranked
19th highest in the nation. East Baton Rouge was second in the State with wage growth of 4.9
percent (30th), followed by St. Tammany at 4.7 percent (38th). Lafayette recorded a 3.9-
percent gain (70th) and Jefferson had an increase of 3.8 percent (73rd). Orleans Parish -
where employment growth ranked first in the country - registered a wage gain of 2.7 percent
(158th). Wages in Caddo Parish were up 2.4 percent (186th), matching the U.S. average. (See
table A.)
Leading the nation in average weekly wage growth was Westmoreland, Pa., with an
increase of 14.9 percent from the first quarter of 2007. Williamson, Texas, was second with
growth of 10.8 percent, followed by Somerset, N.J. (9.0 percent), San Luis Obispo, Calif.,
(8.3 percent), and Jefferson, Texas (7.9 percent). Among the 34 large counties experiencing
over-the-year declines in average weekly wages, Trumbull, Ohio, had the largest decrease (-
17.2 percent), followed by the counties of Saginaw, Mich. (-4.4 percent), Rockingham, N.H.
(-3.9 percent), Fairfield, Conn. (-3.8 percent), and Mecklenburg, N.C. (-3.4 percent).
At the statewide level, average weekly wages in Louisiana rose 4.8 percent from the
first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, and ranked 4th among the 50 states and
the District of Columbia. Wyoming led all States with a 6.7-percent wage gain. Connecticut
was the only state to record an over-the-year decline in average weekly wages, 0.6 percent.
(See table 1.)
Wage levels
While all but one of the large Louisiana parishes experienced above average wage gains,
only one-Orleans Parish-registered an above average wage level in the first quarter of 2008.
At $1,005 per week, the average wage in Orleans was $100 higher than the national average of
$905, ranking the parish 55th among the 334 large counties in the country. Far below
Orleans, but second in the State, was Lafayette Parish with an average wage of $817 per
week, 153rd in the country; it was closely followed by East Baton Rouge at $814 (156th).
Jefferson Parish wages averaged $797 and ranked 172nd. The three remaining parishes had
average weekly wages placing them in the bottom one-third of all large counties nationwide:
Calcasieu, $749 (226th); Caddo, $693 (285th); and St. Tammany $689 (289th). (See table A.)
Among the 334 largest counties in the nation, New York County, N.Y., recorded the
highest average weekly wage at $2,805. Fairfield, Conn., was second with an average weekly
wage of $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 country
were located in the greater New York metropolitan area (New York, N.Y., Fairfield, Conn.,
Somerset, N.J., and Hudson, N.J.), three others were located in or around the San Francisco
area (Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo, all in California), while two more were
located in or around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (Arlington, Va. and Washington,
D.C.). Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk County, Mass., part of the Boston metropolitan
area.
At the other end of the wage scale, the lowest average weekly wage was reported in
Cameron, Texas ($523), followed by Hidalgo, Texas ($532), Horry, S.C. ($534), Webb, Texas
($554), and Yakima, Wash. ($587). Wage levels in the five lowest-ranked counties were
approximately 20 percent of the wage level reported for the highest-ranked county in the
nation, New York.
On a statewide level, Louisiana had an average weekly wage of $765 in the first quarter
of 2008, 15 percent below that for the nation, ranking it 30th among the 50 states and the
District of Columbia. Louisiana's weekly wage was above that of three nearby states,
Oklahoma ($707, 41st), Arkansas ($667, 46th), and Mississippi ($634, 49th), but well below
that of Texas ($903, 13th). (See table 1.)
Nationwide, average weekly wages exceeded $1,000 in the District of Columbia ($1,488),
New York ($1,399), Connecticut ($1,254), Massachusetts ($1,143), New Jersey ($1,133) and
California ($1,008). Average weekly wages in this group were more than 10 percent above the
national level. At the other end of the scale, four states reported wages that were 30
percent or more below the national average: Idaho ($635), Mississippi ($634), South Dakota
($632), and Montana ($625).
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 jobs. The average
weekly wage values are calculated by dividing total quarterly 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 adjusted (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 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. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2006 is available on the
BLS Web site at 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, 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 Covered Employment and Wages Program, as well as
other Bureau programs, contact the Dallas Information Office at 214-767-6970 from 8:00 a.m.
to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. This release is available in text and PDF
format on the Dallas BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm.
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.
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. These
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.
Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, first quarter 2008 (2)
| State |
Employment |
Average weekly wage (3) |
March 2008
(thousands) |
Percent change,
March 2007-08 |
Average
weekly wage |
National ranking
by level |
Percent change,
first quarter 2007-08 |
National ranking
by percent change |
United States (4) |
134,761.1 |
0.4 |
$905 |
- |
2.4 |
- |
Alabama |
1,947.0 |
-0.2 |
740 |
34 |
3.2 |
27 |
Alaska |
303.0 |
1.0 |
866 |
16 |
4.2 |
11 |
Arizona |
2,639.7 |
-1.3 |
820 |
22 |
2.4 |
34 |
Arkansas |
1,178.4 |
-0.1 |
667 |
46 |
4.1 |
12 |
California |
15,561.5 |
0.1 |
1,008 |
6 |
2.1 |
41 |
Colorado |
2,300.0 |
1.7 |
920 |
10 |
3.6 |
16 |
Connecticut |
1,683.9 |
1.2 |
1,254 |
3 |
-0.6 |
51 |
Delaware |
418.4 |
0.5 |
987 |
7 |
0.1 |
49 |
District of Columbia |
680.8 |
1.1 |
1,488 |
1 |
4.3 |
9 |
Florida |
7,918.6 |
-2.2 |
777 |
26 |
1.8 |
43 |
Georgia |
4,060.9 |
0.1 |
847 |
20 |
1.3 |
44 |
Hawaii |
628.1 |
0.2 |
773 |
28 |
3.5 |
19 |
Idaho |
645.3 |
0.2 |
635 |
48 |
0.3 |
48 |
Illinois |
5,796.1 |
0.1 |
980 |
8 |
2.6 |
33 |
Indiana |
2,858.7 |
-0.7 |
757 |
33 |
2.4 |
34 |
Iowa |
1,469.8 |
0.9 |
710 |
40 |
3.6 |
16 |
Kansas |
1,363.2 |
1.0 |
737 |
35 |
2.4 |
34 |
Kentucky |
1,794.0 |
0.1 |
714 |
39 |
2.4 |
34 |
Louisiana |
1,887.3 |
1.3 |
765 |
30 |
4.8 |
4 |
Maine |
584.1 |
0.5 |
701 |
42 |
3.5 |
19 |
Maryland |
2,530.3 |
0.0 |
963 |
9 |
2.8 |
31 |
Massachusetts |
3,203.1 |
0.9 |
1,143 |
4 |
3.3 |
23 |
Michigan |
4,058.8 |
-1.8 |
857 |
18 |
0.9 |
47 |
Minnesota |
2,644.8 |
0.6 |
908 |
12 |
4.0 |
13 |
Mississippi |
1,138.2 |
0.8 |
634 |
49 |
3.3 |
23 |
Missouri |
2,708.0 |
0.0 |
768 |
29 |
3.5 |
19 |
Montana |
432.4 |
0.9 |
625 |
51 |
4.3 |
9 |
Nebraska |
912.2 |
1.4 |
687 |
44 |
3.2 |
27 |
Nevada |
1,266.3 |
-1.2 |
839 |
21 |
4.7 |
5 |
New Hampshire |
621.2 |
0.3 |
863 |
17 |
3.4 |
22 |
New Jersey |
3,939.9 |
0.5 |
1,133 |
5 |
3.3 |
23 |
New Mexico |
823.8 |
0.6 |
717 |
38 |
4.7 |
5 |
New York |
8,555.0 |
1.3 |
1,399 |
2 |
0.1 |
49 |
North Carolina |
4,069.1 |
0.9 |
788 |
24 |
1.3 |
44 |
North Dakota |
343.3 |
2.6 |
652 |
47 |
6.2 |
2 |
Ohio |
5,189.1 |
-1.0 |
798 |
23 |
1.0 |
46 |
Oklahoma |
1,560.0 |
1.6 |
707 |
41 |
4.7 |
5 |
Oregon |
1,713.1 |
0.3 |
776 |
27 |
2.9 |
30 |
Pennsylvania |
5,608.8 |
0.5 |
869 |
15 |
2.4 |
34 |
Rhode Island |
464.8 |
-1.5 |
851 |
19 |
2.3 |
39 |
South Carolina |
1,888.3 |
0.1 |
695 |
43 |
2.8 |
31 |
South Dakota |
389.4 |
2.0 |
632 |
50 |
5.2 |
3 |
Tennessee |
2,746.4 |
0.6 |
761 |
31 |
3.3 |
23 |
Texas |
10,420.8 |
2.8 |
903 |
13 |
3.6 |
16 |
Utah |
1,220.2 |
1.4 |
718 |
37 |
3.2 |
27 |
Vermont |
300.8 |
-0.3 |
735 |
36 |
4.4 |
8 |
Virginia |
3,653.5 |
0.2 |
918 |
11 |
2.0 |
42 |
Washington |
2,928.6 |
2.1 |
899 |
14 |
3.7 |
15 |
West Virginia |
700.3 |
0.3 |
679 |
45 |
4.0 |
13 |
Wisconsin |
2,734.3 |
0.2 |
760 |
32 |
2.2 |
40 |
Wyoming |
277.2 |
2.9 |
779 |
25 |
6.7 |
1 |
Puerto Rico |
1,004.5 |
-1.6 |
489 |
(5) |
2.7 |
(5) |
Virgin Islands |
46.5 |
1.1 |
708 |
(5) |
3.4 |
(5) |
Last Modified Date: November 5, 2008
