Eleven of the 12 largest counties in Virginia registered employment increases 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 2010 annual average employment.) Prince William County had the fastest employment increase at 4.0 percent, followed by Fairfax County at 2.1 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Prince Williams’ advance was in the top 20 among the nation’s 328 largest counties. Arlington County recorded the only employment decline among Virginia’s large counties, down 1.3 percent.

Nationally, employment grew 1.8 percent during this 12-month period, as 293 of the 328 large counties nationwide gained jobs. Gregg County, Texas, 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 over the year.

Among the 12 largest counties in Virginia, employment was highest in Fairfax County (585,100) in March 2012. No other county in the Commonwealth had employment above 200,000. Together, Virginia’s large counties accounted for 56.4 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 Newport News City, Va., rose 12.1 percent from the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012, the fastest increase among Virginia’s 12 largest counties and ranking fourth nationwide. Norfolk City had the second-highest rate of wage growth at 7.5 percent, followed by Loudoun County at 6.7 percent and Prince William County at 6.4 percent. Arlington County had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,617, followed by Fairfax County ($1,562) and Alexandria City ($1,286). (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 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000. All but 6 (Goochland, King George, Surry, Falls Church City, Fairfax City, and Manassas City) of these 122 counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

From the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012, all 12 large counties in Virginia recorded wage increases. Five of these counties, led by Newport News City (12.1 percent) and Norfolk City (7.5 percent), recorded wage gains greater than the national increase of 5.4 percent. The other seven counties had growth rates ranging from 1.1 percent to 4.8 percent. 

Of the 328 largest counties nationwide, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Williamson, Texas, 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

Arlington County had the eighth highest average weekly wage among the 328 large U.S. counties. Five other large counties in Virginia—Fairfax, Alexandria City, Loudoun, Richmond City, and Henrico—also had average wages greater than $1,000, placing them in the top quarter of all large counties. These six counties were the only large counties in Virginia to record wages above the national average.

In two other large counties, Chesapeake City and Virginia Beach City, average weekly wages placed in the bottom fifth of the national ranking at 280th and 291st, respectively.

Average weekly wages in Virginia’s smaller counties

All but 6 of the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $984. Highland County reported the lowest wage level at $475. The highest wage among Virginia’s 122 small counties was Goochland County’s $1,767, followed by King George County’s $1,401 and Surry County’s $1,398. (See table 2.)

When all 134 counties in Virginia were considered, 122 had wages below the national average of $984. Four reported average weekly wages $500 or less, 72 reported wages from $501 to $700, 35 had wages from $701 to $900, 14 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 9 had wages above $1,101. Of the 12 counties with above-average wages, 7 were concentrated in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C. and 3 were located in the Richmond 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 2011 edition of this publication, which was published in September 2012, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well data through the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release and the 2011 annual averages. Tables and additional content from the Employment and Wages Annual 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.

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 12 largest counties in Virginia, first quarter 2012(2)

Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage (3)
	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	--
Virginia	3,586.3	1.4	--	1,019	10	5.3	39
Alexandria City, Va.	94.3	1.1	203	1,286	25	4.8	224
Arlington, Va.	164.9	-1.3	326	1,617	8	4.3	260
Chesapeake City, Va.	95.0	1.5	159	757	280	4.8	224
Chesterfield, Va.	115.1	1.3	184	857	179	3.6	295
Fairfax, Va.	585.1	2.1	115	1,562	11	5.5	166
Henrico, Va.	175.4	1.6	151	1,031	76	1.1	320
Loudoun, Va.	137.6	1.7	142	1,161	45	6.7	77
Newport News City, Va.	96.8	1.5	159	926	138	12.1	4
Norfolk City, Va.	137.9	0.4	269	927	137	7.5	44
Prince William, Va.	110.8	4.0	19	831	208	6.4	100
Richmond City, Va.	148.4	1.0	217	1,113	54	3.9	280
Virginia Beach City, Va.	161.2	0.9	228	745	291	3.9	280
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 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all of the counties in Virginia, first quarter 2012(2)

Area	Employment March 2012	Average weekly wage (3)
United States (4)	130,175,438	$984
Virginia	3,586,331	1019
Accomack	12,201	622
Albemarle	48,609	948
Alleghany	4,295	687
Amelia	2,365	598
Amherst	8,970	620
Appomattox	3,028	512
Arlington	164,853	1,617
Augusta	24,619	734
Bath	2,135	600
Bedford	15,406	636
Bland	1,940	784
Botetourt	9,469	695
Brunswick	4,061	556
Buchanan	8,548	914
Buckingham	3,259	629
Campbell	15,665	800
Caroline	5,248	659
Carroll	6,014	510
Charles City	1,476	685
Charlotte	2,603	532
Chesterfield	115,090	857
Clarke	3,624	759
Craig	620	538
Culpeper	14,888	704
Cumberland	1,253	541
Dickenson	3,632	764
Dinwiddie	7,869	775
Essex	4,046	567
Fairfax County	585,131	1,562
Fauquier	21,065	830
Floyd	2,874	503
Fluvanna	4,129	647
Franklin	13,312	571
Frederick	25,055	749
Giles	4,825	764
Gloucester	9,398	561
Goochland	11,460	1,767
Grayson	2,240	503
Greene	3,514	665
Greensville	4,404	599
Halifax	12,269	611
Hanover	44,690	735
Henrico	175,440	1031
Henry	12,875	592
Highland	523	475
Isle of Wight	9,808	637
James City	26,260	677
King and Queen	919	722
King George	9,971	1,401
King William	3,384	740
Lancaster	4,532	615
Lee	5,164	624
Loudoun	137,622	1,161
Louisa	8,612	955
Lunenburg	2,521	548
Madison	2,947	610
Mathews	1,497	484
Mecklenburg	12,348	560
Middlesex	3,105	559
Montgomery	39,877	720
Nelson	3,791	512
New Kent	3,677	632
Northampton	4,421	614
Northumberland	2,316	559
Nottoway	5,246	589
Orange	8,412	628
Page	5,108	527
Patrick	4,941	486
Pittsylvania	11,807	550
Powhatan	6,916	845
Prince Edward	8,776	585
Prince George	14,103	920
Prince William	110,821	831
Pulaski	12,467	669
Rappahannock	1,385	912
Richmond County	2,684	678
Roanoke County	34,738	702
Rockbridge	5,875	560
Rockingham	27,792	723
Russell	6,817	663
Scott	4,829	598
Shenandoah	13,155	581
Smyth	11,493	606
Southampton	3,732	595
Spotsylvania	30,249	691
Stafford	37,989	911
Surry	2,176	1,396
Sussex	3,489	631
Tazewell	16,601	610
Warren	11,491	636
Washington	19,901	766
Westmoreland	3,301	536
Wise	14,661	724
Wythe	11,467	575
York	20,393	641
Alexandria City	94,341	1,286
Bedford City	3,174	646
Bristol City	12,218	617
Buena Vista City	2,134	539
Charlottesville City	35,098	853
Chesapeake City	95,028	757
Colonial Heights City	10,793	547
Covington City	3,775	970
Danville City	26,342	634
Emporia City	3,826	500
Fairfax City	19,505	1,091
Falls Church City	10,889	1,140
Franklin City	4,346	591
Fredericksburg City	24,883	748
Galax City	6,041	563
Hampton City	54,291	819
Harrisonburg City	31,434	675
Hopewell City	7,907	914
Lexington City	5,056	697
Lynchburg City	50,292	799
Manassas City	24,142	1,087
Manassas Park City	2,801	798
Martinsville City	10,969	566
Newport News City	96,758	926
Norfolk City	137,922	927
Norton City	4,162	790
Petersburg City	13,883	720
Poquoson City	1,768	544
Portsmouth City	44,163	922
Radford City	6,194	816
Richmond City	148,371	1,113
Roanoke City	65,925	796
Salem City	22,509	888
Staunton City	11,407	575
Suffolk City	26,059	838
Virginia Beach City	161,218	745
Waynesboro City	9,495	664
Williamsburg City	13,123	667
Winchester City	25,432	785
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.

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

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	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.

 

 

 

Last Modified Date: October 26, 2011