South Dakota’s only large county, Minnehaha, reported employment growth of 2.7 percent from June 2011 to June 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.) Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that in June 2012, Minnehaha County’s employment level of 118,300 accounted for 28.7 percent of total employment within the state.

Nationally, employment rose 1.8 percent during this 12-month period, as 287 of the 328 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 70.9 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 132.9 million in June 2012.

The average weekly wage in Minnehaha County was $763 in the second quarter of 2012, 3.2 percent higher than one year ago. (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 1.3 percent over the year to $903 in the second quarter of 2012.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000. All 65 of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Minnehaha County’s 3.2-percent wage growth from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012 ranked 37th nationally. (See table 1.) Among the 328 largest counties in the U.S., 233 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2012. Washington, Ore., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 8.5 percent. Williamson, Texas, had the largest wage decline with a loss of 17.0 percent over the year.

Large county average weekly wages

Minnehaha County’s $763 average wage placed in the bottom quartile among the 328 large counties, ranking 251st. Nationally, weekly wages were higher than average in 109 of the 328 largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,754. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,646, followed by Washington, D.C. ($1,544) and San Mateo, Calif. ($1,515). Among the 219 large counties with an average weekly wage below the U.S. average in the second quarter of 2012, Horry, S.C. ($532) reported the lowest wage.

Average weekly wages in South Dakota's smaller counties

All 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $903. Among these smaller counties, Union County had the highest average weekly wage at $848 and Mellette County had the lowest at $426. (See table 2.)

When all 66 counties in South Dakota were considered, none had wages above the national average of $903. Twenty-seven reported average weekly wages under $550, 15 had wages from $550 to $599, 11 reported wages from $600 to $649, 8 had wages from $650 to $699, and 5 had wages of $700 or more. (See chart 1.)

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly 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 2011 edition of this publication, which was published in October 2012, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from the Employment and Wages Annual 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11htm. The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2013.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (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 covered 132.9 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 www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the BLS 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 largest county in South Dakota, second quarter 2012 (2)

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	132,896.0	1.8	--	$903	--	1.3	--
South Dakota	412.8	1.9	--	677	50	3.2	2
Minnehaha, S.D.	118.3	2.7	72	763	251	3.2	37
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.

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, second quarter 2012 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	132,896.0	1.8	$903	--	1.3	--
Alabama	1,841.7	0.9	783	34	2.0	20
Alaska	342.9	2.1	955	8	1.5	29
Arizona	2,393.9	2.6	862	18	2.1	17
Arkansas	1,157.4	1.1	717	47	2.1	17
California	15,045.8	2.4	1,034	6	1.8	24
Colorado	2,291.8	2.5	918	14	2.0	20
Connecticut	1,650.0	1.2	1,111	2	-0.4	50
Delaware	409.3	0.2	948	11	2.4	13
District of Columbia	717.9	0.9	1,544	1	0.3	44
Florida	7,233.7	2.0	805	30	0.4	42
Georgia	3,854.7	1.4	848	22	1.9	22
Hawaii	603.7	2.1	812	28	1.8	24
Idaho	626.1	1.5	673	51	0.9	38
Illinois	5,698.0	1.1	953	9	1.6	27
Indiana	2,832.6	2.3	763	41	1.9	22
Iowa	1,502.7	1.5	743	43	2.5	12
Kansas	1,334.4	1.7	763	41	1.1	35
Kentucky	1,780.7	1.6	772	38	1.6	27
Louisiana	1,877.2	1.6	806	29	1.5	29
Maine	601.8	1.2	719	45	1.0	37
Maryland	2,550.2	1.5	992	7	0.7	39
Massachusetts	3,301.5	1.9	1,109	3	-1.2	51
Michigan	3,984.0	2.1	859	19	1.7	26
Minnesota	2,695.1	1.5	907	15	1.1	35
Mississippi	1,087.4	0.6	681	49	2.9	3
Missouri	2,629.1	0.4	791	32	2.2	15
Montana	442.0	2.0	700	48	2.6	8
Nebraska	930.9	2.0	719	45	0.7	39
Nevada	1,141.7	1.6	815	27	-0.1	48
New Hampshire	623.8	1.4	891	17	0.3	44
New Jersey	3,884.0	1.4	1,056	5	0.0	47
New Mexico	791.9	0.4	783	34	2.6	8
New York	8,701.2	1.5	1,096	4	0.4	42
North Carolina	3,919.1	1.5	787	33	0.5	41
North Dakota	420.3	9.9	854	21	11.1	1
Ohio	5,104.0	1.9	817	25	2.8	4
Oklahoma	1,543.4	1.9	768	39	2.7	6
Oregon	1,663.9	1.6	837	24	2.3	14
Pennsylvania	5,645.9	0.7	893	16	2.1	17
Rhode Island	463.1	0.9	859	19	-0.3	49
South Carolina	1,830.7	1.5	736	44	1.4	31
South Dakota	412.8	1.9	677	50	3.2	2
Tennessee	2,669.1	2.0	816	26	2.8	4
Texas	10,779.5	3.0	922	13	2.6	8
Utah	1,225.8	3.6	766	40	1.3	34
Vermont	300.2	1.0	792	31	2.6	8
Virginia	3,659.9	1.2	952	10	0.3	44
Washington	2,948.3	2.4	947	12	2.2	15
West Virginia	712.3	1.4	776	37	1.4	31
Wisconsin	2,749.7	1.4	778	36	1.4	31
Wyoming	288.9	1.6	842	23	2.7	6
Puerto Rico	933.3	1.8	499	(5)	0.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	40.2	-8.6	819	(5)	9.8	(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.

Last Modified Date: February 8, 2013

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