County Employment and Wages in Pennsylvania – First Quarter 2012

Employment and Wage Gains in Washington County Rank Among Top 10 in the Nation

Employment rose in 17 of the 19 largest counties in Pennsylvania from March 2011 to March 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2011 annual average employment.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Washington County’s 4.2-percent rate of employment gain was the fastest in Pennsylvania and the10th fastest among the 328 largest counties nationwide. Butler and Northampton Counties followed with increases of 2.3 percent each, also ranking in the top one-third among the nation’s large counties. Lackawanna County recorded the only employment decline among Pennsylvania’s large counties, down 0.1 percent. Employment in Philadelphia County was unchanged over the year.

Nationally, employment grew 1.8 percent during this 12-month period, as 293 of the 328 large counties nationwide gained jobs. Gregg County, Tex., experienced the largest percentage increase in employment, up 6.0 percent over the year. Benton, Wash., had the largest employment decrease with a loss of 3.9 percent.

Among the 19 largest counties in Pennsylvania, employment was highest in Allegheny County (675,900), which contains the city of Pittsburgh, in March 2012. One other county, Philadelphia, had employment above 600,000. Together, Pennsylvania’s large counties accounted for 76.4 percent of total employment within the Commonwealth. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 71.1 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Washington County rose 12.4 percent from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012—the fastest increase among Pennsylvania’s largest counties and the third-fastest rate of growth nationwide. Luzerne, Dauphin, and Chester Counties also recorded wage growth rates 8.5 percent or greater and ranked in the top 25 nationwide. Montgomery County had the highest average weekly wage among the 19 largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,294, followed by the counties of Chester ($1,255) and Philadelphia ($1,148). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 5.4 percent over the year to $984 in the first quarter of 2012.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 48 counties in Pennsylvania with employment below 75,000. Forty-six of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Seventeen of Pennsylvania’s 19 large counties recorded over-the-year wage increases larger than the national advance of 5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Wage growth in five of these counties ranked in the top 10 percent among the 328 large counties nationwide. Pennsylvania’s two remaining large counties both experienced wage gains greater than 4.5 percent over the year.

Of the 328 largest counties, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Williamson, Tex., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 27.4 percent from the first quarter of 2011. Middlesex, N.J., was second with a gain of 13.6 percent, followed by the counties of Washington, Pa. (12.4 percent), Newport News City, Va. (12.1 percent), and Collin, Tex. (11.8 percent).

Nationwide, four large counties recorded decreases in average weekly wages over the year. New York, N.Y., had the largest decrease in wages with a decline of 6.3 percent from the first quarter of 2011. Smaller declines were reported in Somerset, N.J. (-1.6 percent); Hudson, N.J. (-0.4 percent) and Douglas, Colo. (-0.3 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

The average weekly wage in 1 of Pennsylvania’s 19 large counties, Montgomery, ranked 24th in the nation; Chester and Philadelphia also ranked in the top 50 nationwide. In addition to these three counties, Delaware, Allegheny, and Washington Counties also had wages above the U.S. average of $984.

In five other large counties in the Commonwealth, the average weekly wages placed in the bottom fourth of the national ranking. All of these wages were more than 20.0 percent below the national average for the first quarter of 2012.

Average weekly wages in Pennsylvania’s smaller counties

Forty-six of the 48 counties in Pennsylvania with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $984. The exceptions were Montour ($1,127) and Greene ($1,086). Wyoming County had the third-highest wage, $828. Perry reported the lowest weekly wage among the smaller counties as well as the Commonwealth as a whole, averaging $546 in the first quarter of 2012. (See table 2.)

When all 67 counties in Pennsylvania were considered, 59 had wages below the national average of $984. Twenty-six reported wages below $700, 31 had wages from $701 to $900, 6 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 4 had wages above $1,100. (See chart 1.) Four of the seven counties that recorded above-average wages are concentrated in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and two are located in the Pittsburgh area.

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2010 edition of this publication, which was published in November 2011, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2011 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2010 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn10. The 2011 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2012.

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.

Technical Note

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 9.2 million employer reports cover 130.2 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total 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 (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

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 in the United States and the 19 largest counties in Pennsylvania, first quarter 2012 (2)
Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage (3)
Area	March 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, first quarter 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	130,175.4	1.8	--	$984	--	5.4	--
Pennsylvania	5,531.1	1.2	--	960	16	7.1	7
Allegheny, Pa.	675.9	1.4	175	1,067	65	7.7	38
Berks, Pa.	162.8	1.3	184	832	206	6.7	77
Bucks, Pa.	245.0	0.2	283	894	153	5.2	194
Butler, Pa.	82.2	2.3	99	861	175	6.7	77
Chester, Pa.	234.1	0.5	262	1,255	33	8.5	23
Cumberland, Pa.	121.7	0.4	269	873	166	7.4	51
Dauphin, Pa.	173.9	0.6	250	966	112	8.8	21
Delaware, Pa.	209.4	1.0	217	1,082	58	6.5	93
Erie, Pa.	123.6	1.2	197	746	289	7.3	59
Lackawanna, Pa.	96.0	-0.1	297	719	305	7.0	69
Lancaster, Pa.	216.5	1.0	217	775	261	5.9	145
Lehigh, Pa.	173.6	1.5	159	950	125	8.1	31
Luzerne, Pa.	136.9	0.2	283	743	293	8.9	19
Montgomery, Pa.	460.7	0.6	250	1,294	24	7.4	51
Northampton, Pa.	101.7	2.3	99	840	194	6.3	110
Philadelphia, Pa.	626.7	0.0	294	1,148	48	6.3	110
Washington, Pa.	84.3	4.2	10	995	91	12.4	3
Westmoreland, Pa.	131.4	1.7	142	761	276	6.1	129
York, Pa.	170.3	0.9	228	826	217	4.8	224
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (5) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (7) Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.

Table 2. Covered(1) employment and wages in the United States and all of the counties in Pennsylvania, first quarter 2011(2)
Area	Employment March 2012	Average weekly wage (3)
United States (4)	130,175,438	$984
Pennsylvania	5,531,088	960
Adams	31,397	703
Allegheny	675,880	1,067
Armstrong	17,782	746
Beaver	53,974	784
Bedford	15,438	633
Berks	162,769	832
Blair	57,300	685
Bradford	25,014	806
Bucks	245,011	894
Butler	82,212	861
Cambria	55,952	672
Cameron	2,095	669
Carbon	16,671	582
Centre	65,172	807
Chester	234,110	1,255
Clarion	13,460	618
Clearfield	30,712	663
Clinton	13,376	697
Columbia	24,589	648
Crawford	30,308	653
Cumberland	121,733	873
Dauphin	173,899	966
Delaware	209,385	1,082
Elk	15,233	714
Erie	123,574	746
Fayette	39,666	644
Forest	2,053	774
Franklin	54,867	710
Fulton	4,669	723
Greene	15,571	1,086
Huntingdon	12,578	645
Indiana	33,574	790
Jefferson	15,756	672
Juniata	6,054	585
Lackawanna	95,972	719
Lancaster	216,459	775
Lawrence	28,723	702
Lebanon	49,178	701
Lehigh	173,634	950
Luzerne	136,920	$743
Lycoming	54,023	750
Mc Kean	16,503	792
Mercer	47,226	707
Mifflin	14,912	648
Monroe	54,152	786
Montgomery	460,739	1,294
Montour	16,863	1,127
Northampton	101,738	840
Northumberland	27,304	681
Perry	7,812	546
Philadelphia	626,704	1,148
Pike	9,646	607
Potter	5,253	737
Schuylkill	49,772	682
Snyder	14,807	582
Somerset	24,933	675
Sullivan	1,683	571
Susquehanna	9,197	681
Tioga	13,637	677
Union	15,987	714
Venango	20,196	739
Warren	14,874	660
Washington	84,261	995
Wayne	14,249	646
Westmoreland	131,441	761
Wyoming	9,467	828
York	170,326	826
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, first quarter 2012 (2)
State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
State	March 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2011-12	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, first quarter 2011-12	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	130,175.4	1.8	$984	--	5.4	--
Alabama	1,822.8	0.8	808	35	5.6	32
Alaska	316.4	1.9	973	15	6.7	9
Arizona	2,437.2	2.1	887	21	5.7	29
Arkansas	1,151.5	1.5	747	47	4.6	46
California	14,670.6	2.0	1,125	6	5.5	33
Colorado	2,230.4	2.4	1,003	13	5.4	36
Connecticut	1,613.1	1.5	1,330	3	3.8	50
Delaware	398.8	0.8	1,071	7	4.2	48
District of Columbia	712.1	1.3	1,602	1	4.0	49
Florida	7,377.3	2.0	837	30	5.4	36
Georgia	3,815.5	1.3	931	17	5.2	41
Hawaii	600.3	0.9	834	32	5.7	29
Idaho	596.7	1.1	692	50	5.0	43
Illinois	5,557.5	1.5	1,061	9	5.9	25
Indiana	2,777.0	2.2	822	34	6.3	17
Iowa	1,448.3	1.9	784	40	6.4	14
Kansas	1,314.2	1.8	803	37	7.2	5
Kentucky	1,750.3	1.9	785	39	6.4	14
Louisiana	1,863.1	1.2	836	31	4.9	44
Maine	561.4	0.5	757	46	4.7	45
Maryland	2,492.4	1.7	1,071	7	6.0	23
Massachusetts	3,178.7	1.7	1,227	5	5.7	29
Michigan	3,865.8	2.6	920	20	5.5	33
Minnesota	2,586.3	2.1	989	14	6.1	20
Mississippi	1,083.5	0.8	687	51	5.9	25
Missouri	2,593.7	1.2	838	29	6.5	12
Montana	419.5	1.8	706	48	7.8	4
Nebraska	905.3	2.1	765	44	6.1	20
Nevada	1,118.4	1.4	846	28	5.5	33
New Hampshire	602.1	1.0	923	19	5.4	36
New Jersey	3,749.0	1.5	1,228	4	5.9	25
New Mexico	779.7	0.4	782	41	5.8	28
New York	8,479.4	1.7	1,357	2	-0.8	51
North Carolina	3,874.9	1.7	869	23	5.3	39
North Dakota	397.4	9.0	857	25	14.6	1
Ohio	4,967.8	2.0	873	22	6.6	11
Oklahoma	1,525.5	2.0	806	36	9.4	2
Oregon	1,613.0	1.4	864	24	6.4	14
Pennsylvania	5,531.1	1.2	960	16	7.1	7
Rhode Island	443.5	1.1	931	17	8.0	3
South Carolina	1,797.7	1.7	764	45	6.0	23
South Dakota	390.4	2.1	703	49	6.7	9
Tennessee	2,636.7	2.4	847	27	6.8	8
Texas	10,605.2	2.6	1,013	11	7.2	5
Utah	1,193.1	3.2	799	38	6.1	20
Vermont	296.6	1.5	774	42	4.6	46
Virginia	3,586.3	1.4	1,019	10	5.3	39
Washington	2,831.9	1.9	1,009	12	6.5	12
West Virginia	705.5	2.4	768	43	6.2	18
Wisconsin	2,639.0	1.1	827	33	6.2	18
Wyoming	271.8	2.4	850	26	5.2	41
Puerto Rico	931.3	0.6	521	(5)	4.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	42.7	-5.4	722	(5)	-2.0	(5)
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.