For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, March 29, 2013 USDL-13-0543
Technical information: (202) 691-6569 * oesinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/oes
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov
OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES -- MAY 2012
Computer network support specialists, with employment of 167,980 in May 2012, and
nurse practitioners, with employment of 105,780, were 2 of the largest new
occupations in the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These are 2 of 24 newly defined
detailed occupations shown in table A. National employment and wage information
for all occupations in the 2010 SOC is shown in table 1.
The data in this news release are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)
program, which provides employment and wage estimates by area and by industry
for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed
occupations. In addition, national employment and wage estimates for 94 minor
occupational groups and 458 broad occupations are available for the first time.
New 2010 SOC Occupations
--Other large newly defined occupations include computer network
architects, with employment of 137,890, and web developers, with
employment of 102,940. Phlebotomists, who draw blood for tests,
transfusions, donations, or research, had employment of 100,380
in May 2012. (See table A.)
--Some new occupations were quite small: genetic counselors, wind
turbine service technicians, and solar photovoltaic installers each
had employment of less than 5,000. (See table A.)
--Several newly defined occupations earned high wages relative to the
U.S. annual mean of $45,790. Nurse anesthetists had an annual mean
wage of $154,390, nurse practitioners, $91,450, and nurse midwives,
$91,070. Information security analysts had an annual mean wage of
$89,290 and computer network architects, $94,000. (See table A.)
--Orderlies, with an annual mean wage of $25,700, was among the
lowest paid occupations new to the 2010 SOC. Phlebotomists ($30,910),
ophthalmic medical technicians ($35,590), and community health workers
($37,490) also had wages below the U.S. average. (See table A.)
Occupational profiles for all occupations are available on the BLS website at
www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm.
Table A. National employment and wages for occupations identified as new in the 2010 Standard
Occupational Classification (SOC) system, May 2012
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2010 Employment Mean wages Median Hourly
SOC Occupation Hourly Annual 1 Wages
Code
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13-1131 Fundraisers .................................... 48,530 $26.55 $55,220 $24.37
15-1122 Information security analysts .................. 72,670 42.93 89,290 41.43
15-1134 Web developers ................................. 102,940 31.78 66,100 30.05
15-1143 Computer network architects .................... 137,890 45.19 94,000 43.75
15-1152 Computer network support specialists ........... 167,980 30.27 62,960 28.41
21-1094 Community health workers ....................... 38,020 18.02 37,490 16.64
25-2051 Special education teachers, preschool .......... 21,770 (2) 57,770 (2)
25-2059 Special education teachers, all other .......... 39,260 (2) 56,160 (2)
29-1128 Exercise physiologists ......................... 5,820 22.89 47,610 21.53
29-1151 Nurse anesthetists ............................. 34,180 74.22 154,390 71.23
29-1161 Nurse midwives ................................. 5,710 43.78 91,070 43.08
29-1171 Nurse practitioners ............................ 105,780 43.97 91,450 43.25
29-2035 Magnetic resonance imaging technologists ....... 29,560 31.45 65,410 31.42
29-2057 Ophthalmic medical technicians ................. 29,170 17.11 35,590 16.46
29-2092 Hearing aid specialists ........................ 4,980 22.49 46,780 19.92
29-9092 Genetic counselors ............................. 2,000 26.84 55,820 27.31
31-1015 Orderlies ...................................... 53,920 12.35 25,700 11.53
31-9097 Phlebotomists .................................. 100,380 14.86 30,910 14.29
33-9093 Transportation security screeners .............. 47,200 17.85 37,130 17.71
39-4031 Morticians, undertakers, and funeral directors . 23,070 25.33 52,690 22.52
43-3099 Financial clerks, all other .................... 39,290 19.03 39,580 17.72
47-2231 Solar photovoltaic installers .................. 4,710 19.53 40,620 18.22
49-9081 Wind turbine service technicians ............... 3,200 23.23 48,320 22.10
51-3099 Food processing workers, all other ............. 37,570 11.96 24,880 11.12
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1 Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time"
hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published,
the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
2 Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year round, full time, are reported either
as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.
Major Occupational Groups
--Among the 22 major occupational groups, office and administrative
support had the largest employment in May 2012, making up more than 16
percent of total U.S. employment. Sales and related occupations was
the second largest major group with nearly 11 percent of U.S. employment.
The sales and related group includes the two largest detailed occupa-
tions in the U.S.--retail salespersons and cashiers. These two occupa-
tions combined accounted for nearly 6 percent of U.S. employment in
May 2012.
--The smallest major occupational groups included legal occupations
and life, physical, and social science occupations, each making up
less than 1 percent of total employment.
--The highest paying major occupational groups were management,
legal, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering
occupations. Most of the detailed occupations in these groups were
also high paying. In fact, all 19 of the detailed occupations in the
computer and mathematical group had mean annual wages above the
$45,790 average for all occupations. Within these 19 occupations,
annual mean wages ranged from $50,130 for computer user support
specialists to $106,680 for actuaries. In the architecture and
engineering group, 34 of the 35 detailed occupations paid above-
average wages. (See table 1.)
--The lowest paying major occupational group was food preparation
and serving related occupations with an annual mean wage of $21,380.
All but 1 detailed occupation within this major group had average
wages below $32,000. The exception was chefs and head cooks, with an
annual mean wage of $46,570, slightly above the all-occupations average.
In the personal care and service occupational group, which had an annual
mean wage of $24,550, only 3 of the 33 detailed occupations had above-
average wages. (See table 1.)
Private and Government Employers
The OES program provides data for private employers and federal,
state, and local governments separately.
--The private sector accounted for over 90 percent of employment in
more than half of the detailed occupations, including 6 of the 10
largest occupations in the U.S. Almost all of the 4.3 million retail
sales workers, 3.3 million cashiers, and 2.3 million waiters and
waitresses were employed in the private sector. Of the 10 largest
occupations in the private sector, 7 had annual mean wages below
$30,000. Among the largest occupations in the private sector, general
and operations managers ($115,930) and registered nurses ($68,070) had
the highest wages.
--Five of the 6 largest occupations in the public sector were education
related: elementary school teachers, except special education; middle
school teachers, except special and career/technical education; secondary
school teachers, except special and career/technical education; teacher
assistants; and substitute teachers. Over 75 percent of employment in
each of these occupations was in the public sector, and for each, over
95 percent of their public sector employment was in local government.
Other occupations with a large share of employment in local government
included firefighters and police and sheriff's patrol officers.
--Correctional officers and jailers (237,380), general office clerks
(183,800), and registered nurses (138,210) were the largest occupations
in state government. Combined, these 3 occupations accounted for over
12 percent of all state government employment.
--Three of the 6 largest occupations in the federal government were
specific to the U.S. Postal Service--postal service mail carriers;
postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine
operators; and postal service clerks--which combined accounted for
19 percent of federal employment. Also among the largest federal
government occupations were registered nurses, management analysts,
and compliance officers.
OES data by ownership are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/
current/oessrci.htm.
Industries
--Health care and social assistance was the industry sector with
the largest employment in May 2012. Registered nurses and nursing
assistants were the largest detailed occupations in this sector, with
about 2.3 million and 1.3 million jobs, respectively. About 71 percent
of registered nurses in the health care and social assistance sector
were in hospitals, while nearly 63 percent of nursing assistants in
the sector were employed by nursing and residential care facilities.
--Retail trade was the second largest industry sector in May 2012.
Nearly 53 percent of the retail sector's employment came from 3
detailed occupations: retail salespersons, cashiers, and first-line
supervisors of retail sales workers. Other large industry sectors in
May 2012 included educational services, manufacturing, and accommodation
and food services.
--Industries with the highest annual mean wages in May 2012 included 3
from the finance and insurance sector--securities and commodity
exchanges ($98,670), other financial investment activities ($95,190),
and securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage
($94,760). Other high-paying industries included oil and gas extraction
($92,270) and software publishers ($91,050). These industries tended
to be small in terms of employment and the largest occupations within
them tended to pay high wages. For example, 9 of the 10 largest detailed
occupations in software publishing had mean annual wages well above
average, including systems software developers ($104,960), applications
software developers ($99,140), and market research analysts and marketing
specialists ($88,670).
--Restaurants and other eating places, in the accommodation and food
services sector, had the lowest mean wage in May 2012 at $21,520.
Nine of the 10 largest detailed occupations in this industry had wages
that averaged less than $23,000. The retail trade sector included
7 of the 10 lowest-paying industries, including gasoline stations,
book stores and news dealers, and shoe stores. Cashiers, with an
annual mean wage of $18,920, made up 66 percent of employment in
gasoline stations. Retail salespersons was the largest occupation in
book stores and news dealers and in shoe stores, with mean wages of
$21,240 and $21,190, respectively.
OES data by industry are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/
current/oessrci.htm.
States and Areas
--States with high total employment, such as California, Texas, New
York, and Florida, also tended to have the highest employment of many
individual occupations. For example, Texas and California had the
highest employment of aircraft mechanics and service technicians,
12,110 and 11,420, respectively. However, smaller states often had
higher-than-average shares of employment for particular occupations.
For example, as a share of total employment, Alaska and Oklahoma each
had nearly 4 times as many aircraft mechanics and service technicians
as the U.S. as a whole.
--Similarly, the largest metropolitan areas tended to have the
highest numbers of jobs in many individual occupations, but smaller
metropolitan areas often had higher concentrations of specific
occupations. For example, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,
N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-
W.Va., had the highest employment of detectives and criminal
investigators, although neither area had a particularly high
concentration of this occupation. However, Laredo, Texas, had a
concentration of detectives and criminal investigators roughly 17
times the U.S. average followed by Las Cruces, N.M., with a
concentration of nearly 12 times the average for this occupation.
--Wages for occupations also varied considerably across states and
metropolitan areas. For example, annual mean wages for accountants
and auditors ranged from $54,620 in North Dakota and $57,140 in West
Virginia to $87,370 in the District of Columbia and $85,140 in New York.
Wages for this occupation varied even more by area than by state:
among metropolitan areas with at least 100 accountants and auditors,
annual mean wages ranged from $47,820 in Jefferson City, Mo., and
$48,320 in Steubenville-Weirton, Ohio-W.Va., to $87,740 in Ocean
City, N.J., and $91,240 in New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.
OES data, including location quotients, by state and metropolitan/nonmetro-
politan area are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/
oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.
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| |
| Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data |
| |
| With the release of the May 2012 estimates, OES data are based on |
| the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system for |
| the first time. In addition to 22 major occupational groups and |
| 821 detailed occupations, employment and wage estimates for 94 |
| minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the |
| national data for the first time. Information about the 2010 SOC |
| is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc/. |
| |
| The May 2012 OES estimates are the first to be produced using the |
| 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). |
| Information about the 2012 NAICS is available on the BLS website |
| at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm. |
| |
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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
