News Release Information
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Contacts
Technical information:
- (816) 285-7000
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Occupational Employment and Wages in Greeley, Colo. – May 2010
Workers in the Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.68 in May 2010, roughly 8 percent below the nationwide average of $21.35, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, nine of the 22 major occupational groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; education, training, and library; and management.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups: construction and extraction; education, training, and library; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support, computer and mathematical, and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Greeley had 6,210 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 8.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.87, measurably below the national wage of $21.09.
With employment of 980, construction laborers was the largest occupation within the construction and extraction group, followed by first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (630) and oil and gas roustabouts (540). Among the higher paying jobs were construction and building inspectors, with mean hourly wages of $28.14. At the lower end of the wage scale were oil and gas roustabouts ($14.73) and construction laborers ($15.49). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2010/may/oes_24540.htm.)
Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, oil and gas rotary drill operators were employed at 23.3 times the national rate in Greeley. On the other hand, carpenters had a location quotient of 0.9 in Greeley, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.
These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and nearly 800 non-military detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas.
OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Greeley metropolitan statistical area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.
NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.
Technical Note
The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data are not included in this release. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 establishments in May and November of each year for a 3-year period. The nationwide response rate for the May 2010 survey was 78.2 percent based on establishments and 74.4 percent based on employment. May 2010 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2010, November 2009, May 2009, November 2008, May 2008, and November 2007. The sample in the Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,272 establishments with a response rate of 78 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2010 OES estimates mark the first set of estimates based in part on data collected using the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. Nearly all the occupations in this release are 2010 SOC occupations; however, some are not. The May 2012 OES data will reflect the full set of detailed occupations in the 2010 SOC. For a list of all occupations, including 2010 SOC occupations, and how data collected on two structures were combined, see the OES Frequently Asked Questions online at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm#Ques41.
Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
The Greeley Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Weld County in Colorado.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro7/home.htm. If you have additional questions, contact the Mountain-Plains Economic Analysis and Information Unit at (816) 285-7000. 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.
Occupation | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (1) | Location quotient (2) | Hourly | Annual | |
Construction and Extraction Occupations | 6,210 | 2.1 | $19.87 | $41,320 |
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers | 630 | 2.2 | 28.96 | 60,240 |
Brickmasons and Blockmasons | 80 | 1.9 | (3) | (3) |
Carpenters | 310 | 0.9 | 16.90 | 35,140 |
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers | 250 | 3.0 | 15.88 | 33,030 |
Construction Laborers | 980 | 2.1 | 15.49 | 32,220 |
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators | 110 | 3.7 | 20.64 | 42,940 |
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators | 320 | 1.6 | 18.23 | 37,920 |
Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers | (3) | (3) | 19.14 | 39,820 |
Electricians | 510 | 1.7 | (3) | (3) |
Painters, Construction and Maintenance | 200 | 1.8 | 16.38 | 34,070 |
Pipelayers | 50 | 1.9 | 17.12 | 35,610 |
Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | 400 | 1.9 | 21.94 | 45,630 |
Roofers | 260 | 4.5 | 16.11 | 33,510 |
Structural Iron and Steel Workers | 90 | 2.5 | 17.93 | 37,300 |
Construction and Building Inspectors | (3) | (3) | 28.14 | 58,530 |
Fence Erectors | (3) | (3) | 15.60 | 32,450 |
Highway Maintenance Workers | 110 | 1.3 | 20.32 | 42,270 |
Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners | 50 | 3.2 | 16.12 | 33,520 |
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas | 280 | 23.3 | 25.84 | 53,740 |
Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining | 30 | 1.4 | 20.98 | 43,640 |
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas | 540 | 18.7 | 14.73 | 30,640 |
Helpers--Extraction Workers | (3) | (3) | 15.65 | 32,560 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: December 28, 2011