COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN CALIFORNIA - FOURTH QUARTER 2012

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1 WEST INFORMATION OFFICE San Francisco, Calif. For release Tuesday, July 30, SAN Technical information: (415) Media contact: (415) COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN CALIFORNIA - FOURTH QUARTER 2012 Employment rose in all 26 of the large counties in California from December 2011 to December 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 Richard J. Holden noted that San Francisco County posted the largest employment increase, 4.2 percent, followed by San Luis Obispo County at 4.1 percent. Nationally, employment advanced 1.9 percent from December 2011 to December 2012 as 287 of the 328 largest U.S. counties registered increases. Elkhart County, Ind., recorded the highest percentage increase in the country, up 7.4 percent over the year. Sangamon, Ill., registered the largest percentage employment decline, down 2.5 percent. Among the large counties in California, Los Angeles County had the highest number of employed, 4,082,200. Orange and San Diego were the only other counties with employment levels above 1,000,000. Together, the 26 large counties in California accounted for 92.8 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 71.3 percent of total U.S. employment. Average weekly wages increased in all 26 of the large California counties from the fourth quarter 2011 to the fourth quarter San Mateo County recorded the greatest increase, percent, along with the highest average weekly wage, $3,240, for both the state and the nation. Average weekly wages nationally increased 4.7 percent over the year to $1,000 in the fourth quarter of (See table 1.) Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 32 counties in California with employment below 75,000. Average weekly wages in these counties ranged from $1,110 in Alpine to $647 in Mariposa during the fourth quarter of (See table 2.) Large County Wage Changes All large California counties experienced over-the-year wage increases from the fourth quarter of 2011 and 8 of the 26 had increases exceeding the national average. Alternatively, eight counties posted overthe-year increases of less than one-half of the national average increase of 4.7 percent.

2 Nationally, 316 of the 328 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases. San Mateo County, Calif., had the largest wage gain, up percent from the fourth quarter of Douglas County, Colo., was second with a wage increase of 48.0 percent, followed by the counties of Virginia Beach City, Va. (13.3 percent), and Rockingham, N.H. (12.0 percent). Among the large U.S. counties, 10 experienced over-the-year wage decreases. Lake, Ohio, had the largest wage decrease with a loss of 3.2 percent. Passaic, N.J., had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages, down 2.1 percent from the fourth quarter 2011, followed by Genesee, Mich. (-1.7 percent), Atlantic, N.J. (-1.4 percent), and Benton, Wash. (-1.0 percent). Large County Average Weekly Wages San Mateo County s $3,240 weekly wage placed 1 st among the 328 largest counties in the nation during the fourth quarter of San Mateo was followed by Santa Clara ($1,906, 3 rd ), San Francisco ($1,694, 7 th ), Alameda ($1,265, 25 th ), and Marin ($1,225, 29 th ). All five counties are located in the San Francisco Bay area. At the other end of the wage spectrum, Tulare County s $697 weekly wage ranked 318 th. Nationally, 97 large counties registered average weekly wages above the U.S. average of $1,000 in the fourth quarter of San Mateo, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties. Average weekly wages ranked second in New York, N.Y. ($2,107), followed by Santa Clara, Calif. ($1,906). Seventy percent of the largest U.S. counties (231) reported weekly wages below the national average. Horry County, S.C., reported the lowest wage ($576), followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($609) and Hidalgo ($612). Wages in these lowest-ranked counties were less than twenty percent of the average weekly wage reported for the highest-ranked county, San Mateo. Average Weekly Wages in California s Smaller Counties Of the 32 counties in California with employment below 75,000, only Alpine had average weekly wages higher than the national average of $1,000. (See table 2.) When all 58 counties in California were considered, 13 counties had an average weekly wage at or below than $699. Seventeen had wages from $700 to $799, 10 reported wages from $800 to $899, 7 had wages from $900 to $999, and 11 reported wages above $1,000. 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 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 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 Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2011 are now available - 2 -

3 online at The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: ; Federal Relay Service: Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the United States on October 29, 2012, during the QCEW fourth quarter reference period. This event did not warrant changes to QCEW methodology. 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 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 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

4 Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 26 largest counties in California, fourth quarter 2012 (2) Area December 2012 (thousands) Employment Average Weekly Wage (3) Percent change, December National ranking by percent Average weekly wage National ranking by level (5) Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in (4) the change United (5) States and all counties in California, fourth quarter 2011 (2)-cont. San Joaquin 200,029 $799 San Luis Obispo 99, San Mateo 333,940 1,556 Santa Barbara 173, Santa Clara 883,045 1,836 Santa Cruz 86, Shasta 58, Sierra Siskiyou 12, Solano 120, Sonoma 177, Stanislaus 158, Sutter 25, Tehama 15, Trinity 2, Tulare 140, Tuolumne 15, Ventura 301, Yolo 87, Yuba 15, Footnotes (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and (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 (2) Data are preliminary. SOURCE: (3) Average Quarterly w eekly w ages Census w ere calculated of Employment using unrounded and data. Wages Percent change, fourth quarter (4) National ranking by percent change (5) United States (6) 133, $1, California 15, , Alameda, Calif , Contra Costa, Calif , Fresno, Calif Kern, Calif Los Angeles, Calif. 4, , Marin, Calif , Monterey, Calif Orange, Calif. 1, , Placer, Calif Riverside, Calif Sacramento, Calif , San Bernardino, Calif San Diego, Calif. 1, , San Francisco, Calif , San Joaquin, Calif San Luis Obispo, Calif San Mateo, Calif , Santa Barbara, Calif Santa Clara, Calif , Santa Cruz, Calif Solano, Calif Sonoma, Calif Stanislaus, Calif Tulare, Calif Ventura, Calif Yolo, Calif (1) Includes w orkers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (4) Percent changes w ere 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

5 Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in California, 4th quarter 2012 (2) Area Employment December Average Weekly Wage 2012 (3) United States (4) 133,726, $1,000 California 15,216, ,186 Alameda 670, ,265 Alpine ,110 Amador 11, Butte 72, Calaveras 7, Colusa 7, Contra Costa 331, ,168 Del Norte 7, El Dorado 48, Fresno 335, Glenn 8, Humboldt 45, Imperial 62, Inyo 7, Kern 295, Kings 41, Lake 13, Lassen 10, Los Angeles 4,082, ,185 Madera 46, Marin 108, ,225 Mariposa 4, Mendocino 29, Merced 69, Modoc 2, Mono 6, Monterey 152, Napa 65, Nevada 28, Orange 1,436, ,131 Placer 132, Plumas 5, Riverside 585, Sacramento 595, ,056 San Benito 13, San Bernardino 629, San Diego 1,302, ,099 San Francisco 603, ,

6 Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in California, 4th quarter 2012 (2) cont. San Joaquin 205, $810 San Luis Obispo 103, San Mateo 349, ,240 Santa Barbara 180, Santa Clara 927, ,906 Santa Cruz 90, Shasta 59, Sierra Siskiyou 12, Solano 123, Sonoma 179, Stanislaus 162, Sutter 25, Tehama 15, Trinity 2, Tulare 139, Tuolumne 15, Ventura 311, Yolo 89, Yuba 16, Footnotes (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and (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. SOURCE: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - 6 -

7 Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, fourth quarter 2012 (2) State December 2012 (thousands) Employment Average weekly wage (3) Percent change, December Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, fourth quarter National ranking by percent change United States (4) 133, $1, Alabama 1, Alaska , Arizona 2, Arkansas 1, California 15, , Colorado 2, , Connecticut 1, , Delaware , District of Columbia , Florida 7, Georgia 3, Hawaii Idaho Illinois 5, , Indiana 2, Iowa 1, Kansas 1, Kentucky 1, Louisiana 1, Maine Maryland 2, , Massachusetts 3, , Michigan 3, Minnesota 2, Mississippi 1, Missouri 2, Montana Nebraska Nevada 1, New Hampshire , New Jersey 3, , New Mexico New York 8, , North Carolina 3, North Dakota Ohio 5, Oklahoma 1, Oregon 1, Pennsylvania 5, Rhode Island South Carolina 1, South Dakota Tennessee 2, Texas 10, , Utah 1, Vermont Virginia 3, , Washington 2, , West Virginia Wisconsin 2, Wyoming Puerto Rico (5) -0.4 (5) Virgin Islands (5) -3.9 (5) (1) Includes w orkers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average w eekly w ages w ere 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

8 Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in California, fourth quarter