All seven large counties in Minnesota reported employment increases from September 2011 to September 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.) Hennepin County had the largest increase, up 2.0 percent, followed by Olmsted and Anoka Counties, up 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that these same three large counties experienced over-the-year rates of employment growth above the 1.6 percent national increase.

Among the seven largest counties in Minnesota, employment was highest in Hennepin (850,100) in September 2012, followed by Ramsey (323,100). Two other counties—Dakota and Anoka—had employment levels of more than 100,000. Collectively, Minnesota's seven large counties accounted for 64.5 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 71.0 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 132.6 million in September 2012.

The average weekly wage in Ramsey County fell 3.3 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012, the largest decrease among Minnesota's large counties. Hennepin County had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $1,133, followed by Ramsey ($990) and Olmsted ($954). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage fell 1.1 percent over the year to $906 in the third quarter of 2012.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 80 counties in Minnesota with employment below 75,000. Of these 80, only Faribault County ($919) had average weekly wages above the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Three of Minnesota’s large counties recorded wage declines greater than or equal to the national decrease of 1.1 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. (See table 1.) As noted, Ramsey County experienced the state’s largest average weekly wage decline of 3.3 percent, followed by Stearns (-3.2 percent) and St. Louis (-1.1 percent). In contrast, two large counties in Minnesota recorded wage gains and ranked in the top decile nationwide: Olmsted (0.7 percent, 25th) and Hennepin (0.4 percent, 32nd).

Among the 328 largest U.S. counties, 274 had over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Yolo, Calif., had the largest decline with a loss of 7.0 percent. Three counties tied for the second largest loss, as wages fell 6.9 percent in Rockingham, N.H.; Lake, Ohio; and Benton, Wash. Increases were recorded in 46 large counties nationwide; San Mateo, Calif., led this group with an over-the-year wage gain of 7.3 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in three of Minnesota’s seven large counties were above the national average of $906 in the third quarter of 2012. As noted, Hennepin County ($1,133) had the highest average weekly wage in the state, ranking 25th among the 328 largest U.S. counties, followed by Ramsey ($990) and Olmsted ($954) which placed 63rd and 76th respectively. Stearns ($726) reported the lowest average weekly wage among the state’s largest counties and ranked 289th nationwide.

Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the U.S. average in 102 of the largest counties in the country. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,800. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,626, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,537), Washington, D.C. ($1,514), and Arlington, Va. ($1,488).

Of the largest counties in the United States, 225, or more than two-thirds, reported average weekly wages below the national average in the third quarter of 2012. The lowest wage was reported in Horry, S.C., at $554 per week. Joining the Texas counties of Cameron ($580) and Hidalgo ($584) among the bottom five were Yakima, Wash. ($620) and Marion, Fla. ($621). Wages in these five lowest-ranked counties were about one-third or less of the average weekly wage in the highest-ranked county, Santa Clara, Calif.

Average weekly wages in Minnesota's smaller counties

Excluding Faribault County, the remaining 79 counties in Minnesota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $906. Among these smaller counties, Faribault County had the highest average weekly wage at $919 and Cass County had the lowest at $490. (See table 2.)

When all 87 counties in Minnesota were considered, all but 4 had wages below the national average of $906. Seven reported average weekly wages under $550, 38 had wages from $550 to $649, 31 reported wages from $650 to $749, 4 reported wages from $750 to $849, and 7 had wages of $850 or more. (See chart 1.)

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 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 132.6 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 7 largest counties in Minnesota, third quarter 2012 (2)

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, third quarter 2011-12 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	132,624.7	1.6	--	$906	--	-1.1	--
Minnesota	2,675.4	1.1	--	915	15	0.0	4
Anoka, Minn.	111.9	1.7	123	874	134	-0.1	55
Dakota, Minn.	172.8	1.1	177	882	123	-0.1	55
Hennepin, Minn.	850.1	2.0	97	1,133	25	0.4	32
Olmsted, Minn.	91.3	1.9	110	954	76	0.7	25
Ramsey, Minn.	323.1	0.3	256	990	63	-3.3	296
St. Louis, Minn.	94.7	0.1	273	778	239	-1.1	116
Stearns, Minn.	81.4	1.4	151	726	289	-3.2	291
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.