February 19, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Northeastern States have
highest weekly wages
In 1997, the average weekly wage for all
workers in private industry was $578, up $28 from a year earlier. The four highest wage
States— Connecticut ($749), New York ($744), New Jersey ($712), and Massachusetts
($686)—were located in the Northeast region of the country.
[Chart data—TXT]
Two States bordering the Northeast region, Delaware ($618) and Maryland
($586), also were in the top 10, along with California and Illinois ($634), Michigan
($627), and Alaska ($597). (The District of Columbia’s average weekly wage was
$821.)
The average weekly wage for all workers in the United States rose 5.1 percent in 1997.
Led again by Connecticut at 6.8 percent, the Northeastern States with high wages tended to
have higher-than-average increases. Among the high four, only New Jersey reported an
increase even slightly below the national average.
These wage data are produced by the BLS Covered
Employment and Wages (ES-202) program, a virtual census of
establishments, employment, and wages of employees on nonfarm payrolls. Additional
information may be obtained from the bulletin, "Employment and Wages Annual Averages,
1997."Â For this article, the U.S. Census Bureau's regional definitions, which
divide the country into 4 regions—Northeast, South, Midwest, and West—were used.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »