WEST INFORMATION OFFICE San Francisco, Calif. For release Tuesday, July 30, 2013 13-1536-SAN Technical information: (415) 625-2283 BLSinfoSF@bls.gov www.bls.gov/ro9 Media contact: (415) 625-2270 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 2012. San Mateo County recorded the greatest increase, 107.3 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 2012. (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 2012. (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.
Nationally, 316 of the 328 largest counties registered over-the-year wage increases. San Mateo County, Calif., had the largest wage gain, up 107.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. 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 2011. 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 2012. 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 http://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 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 -
online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. 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: 1-800-877-8339. 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 133.7 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 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. - 3 -
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 2011-12 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 99,968 798 San Mateo 333,940 1,556 Santa Barbara 173,627 894 Santa Clara 883,045 1,836 Santa Cruz 86,051 860 Shasta 58,988 748 Sierra 651 805 Siskiyou 12,273 658 Solano 120,711 925 Sonoma 177,921 895 Stanislaus 158,207 775 Sutter 25,596 696 Tehama 15,994 682 Trinity 2,448 683 Tulare 140,416 669 Tuolumne 15,880 762 Ventura 301,519 954 Yolo 87,733 922 Yuba 15,835 827 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 2011-12 (4) National ranking by percent change (5) United States (6) 133,726.8 1.9 -- $1,000 -- 4.7 -- California 15,216.3 3.3 -- 1,186 5 7.8 2 Alameda, Calif. 670.7 4.0 17 1,265 25 3.9 119 Contra Costa, Calif. 331.8 2.9 59 1,168 43 2.9 183 Fresno, Calif. 335.2 1.8 143 777 289 2.9 183 Kern, Calif. 295.3 3.0 52 842 233 2.1 234 Los Angeles, Calif. 4,082.2 1.9 134 1,185 37 6.6 29 Marin, Calif. 109.0 3.8 20 1,225 29 3.4 150 Monterey, Calif. 152.4 3.2 41 809 267 1.4 271 Orange, Calif. 1,436.6 2.7 69 1,131 52 4.4 91 Placer, Calif. 132.5 2.8 65 979 111 4.5 85 Riverside, Calif. 585.6 3.4 33 765 298 1.5 265 Sacramento, Calif. 595.1 2.7 69 1,056 68 1.3 276 San Bernardino, Calif. 629.4 2.2 106 830 249 2.6 202 San Diego, Calif. 1,302.0 2.3 94 1,099 57 5.5 45 San Francisco, Calif. 603.3 4.2 12 1,694 7 7.6 15 San Joaquin, Calif. 205.2 1.5 172 810 265 1.6 261 San Luis Obispo, Calif. 103.9 4.1 15 809 267 1.3 276 San Mateo, Calif. 349.2 3.6 25 3,240 1 107.3 1 Santa Barbara, Calif. 180.5 3.6 25 961 129 7.4 17 Santa Clara, Calif. 928.0 3.7 23 1,906 3 5.0 71 Santa Cruz, Calif. 90.4 3.5 29 849 220 0.1 313 Solano, Calif. 123.9 3.3 39 998 98 7.4 17 Sonoma, Calif. 179.8 3.2 41 918 156 2.6 202 Stanislaus, Calif. 162.3 2.5 80 793 277 2.3 219 Tulare, Calif. 139.8 0.4 265 697 318 3.6 139 Ventura, Calif. 311.0 3.1 48 984 108 3.3 157 Yolo, Calif. 89.4 1.2 194 997 100 8.6 10 (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. - 4 -
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) 133,726,808.00 $1,000 California 15,216,293.00 1,186 Alameda 670,733.00 1,265 Alpine 504.00 1,110 Amador 11,501.00 782 Butte 72,448.00 748 Calaveras 7,533.00 697 Colusa 7,699.00 741 Contra Costa 331,817.00 1,168 Del Norte 7,778.00 688 El Dorado 48,782.00 832 Fresno 335,249.00 777 Glenn 8,189.00 697 Humboldt 45,528.00 685 Imperial 62,533.00 705 Inyo 7,409.00 760 Kern 295,322.00 842 Kings 41,013.00 770 Lake 13,930.00 663 Lassen 10,132.00 831 Los Angeles 4,082,217.00 1,185 Madera 46,511.00 738 Marin 108,953.00 1,225 Mariposa 4,735.00 647 Mendocino 29,958.00 692 Merced 69,441.00 719 Modoc 2,435.00 662 Mono 6,592.00 652 Monterey 152,444.00 809 Napa 65,678.00 937 Nevada 28,768.00 817 Orange 1,436,612.00 1,131 Placer 132,543.00 979 Plumas 5,536.00 781 Riverside 585,585.00 765 Sacramento 595,114.00 1,056 San Benito 13,937.00 794 San Bernardino 629,403.00 830 San Diego 1,302,033.00 1,099 San Francisco 603,321.00 1,694-5 -
Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in California, 4th quarter 2012 (2) cont. San Joaquin 205,224.00 $810 San Luis Obispo 103,942.00 809 San Mateo 349,233.00 3,240 Santa Barbara 180,508.00 961 Santa Clara 927,981.00 1,906 Santa Cruz 90,401.00 849 Shasta 59,111.00 759 Sierra 524.00 740 Siskiyou 12,034.00 667 Solano 123,882.00 998 Sonoma 179,844.00 918 Stanislaus 162,326.00 793 Sutter 25,978.00 713 Tehama 15,648.00 699 Trinity 2,594.00 661 Tulare 139,776.00 697 Tuolumne 15,832.00 785 Ventura 311,046.00 984 Yolo 89,412.00 997 Yuba 16,255.00 830 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 -
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 2011-12 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, fourth quarter 2011-12 National ranking by percent change United States (4) 133,726.8 1.9 $1,000 -- 4.7 -- Alabama 1,847.3 1.1 854 33 2.6 41 Alaska 314.8 1.1 1,007 15 2.7 38 Arizona 2,509.2 2.4 912 22 3.3 33 Arkansas 1,160.3 0.2 767 47 4.2 19 California 15,216.3 3.3 1,186 5 7.8 2 Colorado 2,311.4 2.7 1,032 11 5.8 5 Connecticut 1,657.6 1.0 1,253 3 5.3 8 Delaware 411.0 1.2 1,044 9 6.1 4 District of Columbia 721.5 1.7 1,703 1 2.2 47 Florida 7,535.5 2.3 880 27 3.9 23 Georgia 3,889.9 1.7 927 21 4.7 13 Hawaii 620.7 2.1 868 30 2.7 38 Idaho 618.4 2.0 732 50 2.1 48 Illinois 5,697.9 1.1 1,058 8 4.4 17 Indiana 2,850.5 1.8 816 40 3.4 32 Iowa 1,486.6 1.3 821 39 3.7 26 Kansas 1,339.2 1.5 835 37 4.4 17 Kentucky 1,796.0 1.4 801 42 1.8 49 Louisiana 1,891.9 1.0 884 26 4.1 20 Maine 582.2 0.2 773 46 2.4 45 Maryland 2,544.1 1.2 1,086 7 2.5 42 Massachusetts 3,279.3 1.3 1,248 4 4.8 11 Michigan 3,988.9 1.9 954 18 2.3 46 Minnesota 2,677.2 1.6 985 16 5.1 10 Mississippi 1,096.5 1.1 720 51 3.2 34 Missouri 2,641.9 0.9 863 31 4.6 14 Montana 434.6 1.9 757 48 4.1 20 Nebraska 931.3 2.2 797 43 4.6 14 Nevada 1,145.8 1.9 877 28 2.9 35 New Hampshire 620.8 0.8 1,023 13 5.5 6 New Jersey 3,846.4 1.1 1,172 6 2.9 35 New Mexico 796.8 1.5 802 41 0.4 51 New York 8,741.9 1.4 1,280 2 6.9 3 North Carolina 3,963.9 1.9 854 33 3.6 29 North Dakota 421.0 6.1 944 20 8.4 1 Ohio 5,098.0 1.3 887 25 3.6 29 Oklahoma 1,565.3 1.9 847 35 3.9 23 Oregon 1,654.1 1.4 871 29 2.5 42 Pennsylvania 5,629.8 0.5 972 17 3.8 25 Rhode Island 456.4 1.0 945 19 2.7 38 South Carolina 1,832.2 2.0 784 45 2.8 37 South Dakota 401.7 1.2 749 49 3.5 31 Tennessee 2,710.4 2.1 903 24 5.2 9 Texas 10,956.4 3.2 1,027 12 5.5 6 Utah 1,246.6 3.7 844 36 4.5 16 Vermont 306.1 0.7 829 38 2.5 42 Virginia 3,663.7 1.1 1,042 10 3.7 26 Washington 2,902.0 2.1 1,017 14 4.0 22 West Virginia 714.3 0.0 788 44 1.5 50 Wisconsin 2,723.6 1.2 855 32 4.8 11 Wyoming 277.6 0.2 908 23 3.7 26 Puerto Rico 978.6 1.6 550 (5) -0.4 (5) Virgin Islands 39.8-7.9 738 (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. - 7 -
Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in California, fourth quarter 2012-8 -