News Release Information
12-906-SAN
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
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OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN MERCED
May 2011
Workers in the Merced Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.89 in May 2011, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $21.74, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups: protective service; education, training, and library; and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance. Nine groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and management.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 3 of the 22 occupational groups, including education, training, and library; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, healthcare practitioners and technical, and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Merced | United States | Merced | Percent difference (1) | |
Total, all occupations |
100.0% | 100.0% | $21.74 | $18.89* | -13 |
Management |
4.8 | 3.9* | 51.64 | 47.33* | -8 |
Business and financial operations |
4.8 | 2.1* | 33.05 | 29.15* | -12 |
Computer and mathematical |
2.7 | 0.7* | 37.85 | 29.13* | -23 |
Architecture and engineering |
1.8 | 0.4* | 37.08 | (2) | |
Life, physical, and social science |
0.8 | 0.7 | 32.44 | 30.67 | -5 |
Community and social services |
1.5 | 1.9 | 21.07 | 21.27 | 1 |
Legal |
0.8 | 0.2* | 47.30 | (2) | |
Education, training, and library |
6.6 | 11.8* | 24.46 | 27.44* | 12 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media |
1.3 | 0.7* | 25.89 | 19.52* | -25 |
Healthcare practitioner and technical |
5.9 | 3.3* | 34.97 | 36.05 | 3 |
Healthcare support |
3.1 | 2.9 | 13.16 | 13.37 | 2 |
Protective service |
2.5 | 2.9 | 20.54 | 23.90* | 16 |
Food preparation and serving related |
8.7 | 8.7 | 10.30 | 10.29 | 0 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance |
3.3 | 3.2 | 12.29 | 13.40* | 9 |
Personal care and service |
2.8 | 2.0* | 11.84 | 11.12* | -6 |
Sales and related |
10.6 | 8.7* | 18.04 | 13.77* | -24 |
Office and administrative support |
16.7 | 15.3 | 16.40 | 15.51* | -5 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry |
0.3 | 6.3* | 11.68 | 9.61* | -18 |
Construction and extraction |
3.9 | 2.4* | 21.46 | 20.19* | -6 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair |
3.9 | 4.2 | 20.86 | 19.79 | -5 |
Production |
6.5 | 9.4 | 16.45 | 15.19 | -8 |
Transportation and material moving |
6.7 | 8.5* | 15.96 | 15.19 | -5 |
Footnotes: |
One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Merced had 4,890 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 8.5 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $15.19, compared to the national wage of $15.96.
With employment of 1,130, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand was the largest occupation within the transportation and material moving group, followed by heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (1,110) and industrial truck and tractor operators (610). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators, and excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, with mean hourly wages of $24.78 and $19.71, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were packers and packagers, hand ($9.00) and cleaners of vehicles and equipment ($9.39). (Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2011/may/oes_32900.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 Merced Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 2.7 times the national rate in Merced, and heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, at 1.6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, light truck or delivery services drivers had a location quotient of 1.2 in Merced, 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 California Employment Development Department. 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 Merced 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. |
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 2011 survey was 77.3 percent based on establishments and 73.3 percent based on employment. May 2011 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2011, November 2010, May 2010, November 2009, May 2009, and November 2008. The sample in the Merced Metropolitan Statistical Area included 846 establishments with a response rate of 81 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The May 2011 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 Merced, Calif. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Merced County.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro9/home.htm. If you have additional questions, contact the San Francisco Economic Analysis and Information Unit at (415) 625-2270. 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 (1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual(4) | |
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 4,890 | 1.3 | $15.19 | $31,590 |
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand | 70 | 0.9 | 19.49 | 40,530 |
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators | 90 | 1.1 | 24.78 | 51,540 |
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client | (5) | (5) | 18.93 | 39,380 |
Driver/Sales Workers | 360 | 2.1 | (5) | (5) |
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 1,110 | 1.6 | 16.03 | 33,340 |
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers | 400 | 1.2 | 15.31 | 31,850 |
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants | 50 | 1.1 | 10.17 | 21,150 |
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators | 30 | 1.6 | 19.71 | 41,000 |
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators | 610 | 2.7 | 16.72 | 34,780 |
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment | 120 | 0.9 | 9.39 | 19,530 |
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 1,130 | 1.2 | 13.24 | 27,540 |
Machine Feeders and Offbearers | (5) | (5) | 12.24 | 25,460 |
Packers and Packagers, Hand | 460 | 1.5 | 9.00 | 18,710 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: July 13, 2012