AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN ARKANSAS: FOURTH QUARTER 2006

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: FOR RELEASE: Cheryl Abbot Tuesday, Regional Economist August 7, 2007 (214) 767-6970 http://www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES IN ARKANSAS: FOURTH QUARTER 2006 In the fourth quarter of 2006, Pulaski County recorded the highest average weekly wage, $782, among the three Arkansas counties with 75,000 or more jobs as measured by 2005 annual average employment. Benton County followed with an average weekly wage of $752. Washington County had the lowest weekly wage ($716), but registered the highest over-the-year wage gain (5.0 percent) among the three large counties in the State. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that weekly wage levels in Arkansas’ large counties were above the statewide average of $652, but below the national average of $861. (See table A.) Over-the-year wage and employment changes Washington County’s 5.0-percent over-the-year wage gain in the fourth quarter of 2006 was above the 4.2-percent increase for the nation. Washington’s percentage increase in wages placed in the top one-quarter of the national ranking at 71st highest among the 325 large counties in the country. Finishing in the top half nationwide was Pulaski County’s wage gain of 4.3 percent, ranking it 114th. The 1.2-percent increase in Benton County’s wages placed it near the bottom, ranking 303rd in the country. Table A. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and the 3 largest counties in Arkansas, fourth quarter 2006 (2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Employment | Average weekly wage (4) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Percent | Percent National Area December change, |Average National change, ranking by 2006 December |weekly ranking by 4th qtr. percent (thousands) 2005-06(3) | wage level (5) 2005-06(3) change (5) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ United States (6).. 135,933.2 1.6 | $861 -- 4.2 -- | Arkansas......... 1,179.3 1.0 | 652 47 2.8 43 | Benton, Ark..... 95.6 4.0 | 752 224 1.2 303 Pulaski, Ark.... 249.5 0.7 | 782 179 4.3 114 Washington, Ark. 93.9 1.5 | 716 257 5.0 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (4) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (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. At the statewide level, average weekly wages in Arkansas rose 2.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2006, ranking 43rd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Wyoming led the U.S. with over-the- year wage growth of 11.3 percent. New Hampshire and New Mexico were next in line with increases of 8.1 and 7.1 percent, respectively, followed by Idaho (7.0 percent) and Kansas (6.5 percent). Delaware was the only state to report a decline in average weekly wages (-4.1 percent). (See table 1.) Leading the nation in average weekly wage growth was Rockingham, N.H., with an increase of 18.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005. Sedgwick, Kan., and Trumbull, Ohio, tied for second with 14.0-percent growth, followed by the counties of Travis, Texas (10.9 percent), Waukesha, Wis. (10.4 percent), and Santa Cruz, Calif. (10.1 percent). Among the eight counties experiencing over- the-year declines in average weekly wages, New Castle, Del., had the largest decrease (-5.7 percent), followed by the counties of Elkhart, Ind. (-5.3 percent), Orleans, La. (-4.4 percent), York, Pa. (-4.3 percent), and Harrison, Miss. (-2.4 percent). Employment in Benton County rose 4.0 percent during the 12-month period; this increase was the 22nd highest rate of growth among the 325 large counties nationwide. With an increase of 1.5 percent, employment in Washington County rose at about the same rate as the U.S. average (1.6 percent) and ranked 141st. Pulaski County experienced an employment gain of 0.7 percent, ranking it 212th nationwide. Combined, employment in these three counties accounted for more than one-third of the State total. Arkansas employment rose 1.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005, ranking 38th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Overall, Arkansas was one of 20 states with slower-than-average employment growth. (See table A.) A total of 270 large counties in the U.S. experienced employment increases between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the fourth quarter of 2006. Harrison County, Miss., had the largest over-the-year increase with an 18.7-percent gain. Employment declines occurred in 41 counties across the country, with the sharpest drop occurring in Trumbull County, Ohio (-4.7 percent). Wage levels While two of the three large Arkansas counties had wage growth above the percentage increase for the United States from the fourth quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2006, all had wage levels below that for the nation. These three counties were among 219 nationwide reporting wages below the U.S. average of $861 per week. The weekly wage in Pulaski County, $782, was 9 percent below that for the nation and ranked 179th among the 325 large counties. The wage level in Benton County averaged $752 per week, 13 percent lower than the nationwide average, and ranked 224th. Washington County’s wage level of $716 ranked among the bottom one-quarter at 257th, 17 percent lower than that for the nation. (See table A.) Among the 325 largest counties in the nation, New York County, N.Y., recorded the highest average weekly wage at $1,781. Santa Clara, Calif., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,569, followed by Fairfield, Conn. ($1,515), and Suffolk, Mass. ($1,481). Three of the 10 counties with the highest wages in the country were located in the greater New York metropolitan area (New York, N.Y., Fairfield, Conn., and Somerset, N.J.), three others were located in or around the San Francisco area (Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo, all in California), while three more were located in or around the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (Arlington, Va., Fairfax, Va., and Washington, D.C.). Rounding out the top 10 was Suffolk County, Mass., part of the Boston metropolitan area. At the other end of the wage scale, the lowest average weekly wage was reported in Cameron, Texas ($527), followed by Hidalgo, Texas ($542), Yakima, Wash. ($570), Webb, Texas ($571), and Horry, S.C. ($578). The wage level in each of the five lowest-ranked counties was less than one-third of the wage level reported for the highest-ranked county in the nation, New York. On a statewide level, Arkansas’ average weekly wage was 24 percent below the national average in the fourth quarter of 2006. The State’s $652 wage level ranked close to the bottom--47th--among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Arkansas’ weekly wage was between those of neighboring Oklahoma ($679, 43rd) and Mississippi ($630, 49th), but well below wages in other nearby states including Tennessee ($773, 25th) and Louisiana ($748, 30th). (See table 1.) Nationwide, average wage levels were greater than $1,000 per week for the top five in the rankings: District of Columbia ($1,424), New York ($1,104), Connecticut ($1,101), Massachusetts ($1,072), and New Jersey ($1,055). Average weekly wages in this group were more than 20 percent above the national level. At the other end of the scale, four states reported wages 75 percent or less of the national average: South Dakota ($614), Montana ($625), Mississippi ($630), and North Dakota ($643). 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 reports submitted by employers subject to unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The 8.9 million employer reports cover 135.9 million full- and part-time jobs. The average weekly wage is computed by dividing the total quarterly payroll of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees. This number 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, counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been adjusted (see Note below) and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site. Additional statistics and other information An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages, features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2005 edition of this bulletin contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the fourth quarter 2005 version of this news release. This edition is the first to include the data on a CD for enhanced access and usability. As a result of this change, the printed booklet contains only selected graphic representations of QCEW data; the data tables themselves are published exclusively in electronic formats as PDF and fixed-width text files. Employment and Wages Annual Averages, 2005 is now available for sale from the United States Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250, telephone 866-512-1800, outside of Washington, D.C. Within Washington, D.C., the telephone number is 202-512-1800. The fax number is 202-512-2104. Also, the 2005 bulletin is available in a portable document format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn05.htm. 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. QCEW-based news releases issued by other regional offices have been placed at one convenient BLS Web site location, see http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewregional.htm. For personal assistance or further information on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program, as well as other Bureau programs, contact the Dallas Information Office at 214-767- 6970 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT. This release is available in text and PDF format on the Dallas BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/ro6/home.htm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | NOTE | | | |QCEW data are the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number| |of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. For | |this reason, county and industry data are not designed to be used as a time | |series. | | | |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. The potential differences result from several causes. Differences | |between BLS and State published data may be due to the 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. | | | |Data for 2006 will be the last from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages| |(QCEW) program using the 2002 version of the North American Industry | |Classification System (NAICS). With the release of first quarter 2007 data, | |scheduled for October 18, the QCEW program will switch to the 2007 NAICS as the | |basis for the assignment and tabulation of economic data by industry. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, fourth quarter 2006 (2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Employment | Average weekly wage (3) ------------|-------------------------------------------- | Percent National State December | Average National change, ranking by 2006 | weekly ranking by 4th qtr. percent (thousands)| wage level 2005-06 change ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States (4)...... 135,933.2 $861 -- 4.2 -- Alabama............... 1,948.9 737 33 4.4 27 Alaska................ 296.2 837 17 5.3 11 Arizona............... 2,693.3 805 22 4.7 18 Arkansas.............. 1,179.3 652 47 2.8 43 California............ 15,672.1 987 6 4.4 27 Colorado.............. 2,283.3 877 12 5.0 15 Connecticut........... 1,706.3 1,101 3 2.0 50 Delaware.............. 427.5 896 10 -4.1 51 District of Columbia.. 675.0 1,424 1 5.0 15 Florida............... 8,126.2 788 23 4.6 20 Georgia............... 4,090.4 812 21 2.1 49 Hawaii................ 632.3 762 27 3.5 38 Idaho................. 649.8 672 45 7.0 4 Illinois.............. 5,899.5 928 8 4.6 20 Indiana............... 2,924.3 723 36 2.6 45 Iowa.................. 1,486.3 697 40 3.7 35 Kansas................ 1,358.9 725 34 6.5 5 Kentucky.............. 1,815.4 708 37 3.8 33 Louisiana............. 1,855.1 748 30 5.1 14 Maine................. 603.4 679 43 2.7 44 Maryland.............. 2,570.5 941 7 3.4 39 Massachusetts......... 3,244.5 1,072 4 4.5 25 Michigan.............. 4,242.5 852 14 2.2 48 Minnesota............. 2,683.1 840 16 4.0 32 Mississippi........... 1,140.3 630 49 2.6 45 Missouri.............. 2,737.5 741 32 2.3 47 Montana............... 431.6 625 50 5.8 6 Nebraska.............. 912.2 687 42 3.6 37 Nevada................ 1,285.8 817 19 5.4 10 New Hampshire......... 636.9 917 9 8.1 2 New Jersey............ 4,023.6 1,055 5 4.4 27 New Mexico............ 823.2 705 39 7.1 3 New York.............. 8,643.1 1,104 2 5.3 11 North Carolina........ 4,054.0 751 29 4.6 20 North Dakota.......... 341.0 643 48 4.7 18 Ohio.................. 5,346.2 774 24 3.1 42 Oklahoma.............. 1,536.4 679 43 5.8 6 Oregon................ 1,723.9 763 26 4.8 17 Pennsylvania.......... 5,680.8 837 17 4.4 27 Rhode Island.......... 488.4 817 19 3.8 33 South Carolina........ 1,886.8 688 41 3.3 41 South Dakota.......... 387.1 614 51 4.2 31 Tennessee............. 2,785.2 773 25 4.6 20 Texas................. 10,164.2 871 13 5.8 6 Utah.................. 1,208.0 725 34 5.5 9 Vermont............... 308.7 707 38 3.4 39 Virginia.............. 3,682.9 887 11 3.7 35 Washington............ 2,863.7 846 15 5.2 13 West Virginia......... 714.3 656 46 4.6 20 Wisconsin............. 2,792.4 746 31 4.5 25 Wyoming............... 270.9 759 28 11.3 1 Puerto Rico........... 1,062.8 494 (5) 4.7 (5) Virgin Islands........ 45.5 711 (5) 7.2 (5) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (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: August 7, 2007


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