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News Release Information

15-2450-CHI
Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

County Employment and Wages in South Dakota – Second Quarter 2015

South Dakota’s only large county, Minnehaha, reported employment growth of 2.0 percent from June 2014 to June 2015, 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 2014 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that in June 2015, Minnehaha County’s employment level of 125,200 accounted for 29.2 percent of total employment within the state. (See table 1.)

Nationally, employment rose 2.0 percent from June 2014 to June 2015, as 319 of the 342 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Nationwide, the 342 largest counties made up 72.1 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 140.6 million in June 2015.

The average weekly wage in Minnehaha County was $825 in the second quarter of 2015, up 3.8 percent from the previous year. Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.0 percent over the year to $968 in the second quarter of 2015.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000. All 65 of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Minnehaha County’s 3.8-percent wage growth from the second quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2015 ranked 51st nationally. (See table 1.) Among the 342 largest U.S. counties, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2015. Ventura, Calif., ranked first in average weekly wage growth with a gain of 15.2 percent. Sixteen of the 342 largest counties experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Olmsted, Minn., had the largest percentage decline in average weekly wages with a loss of 5.2 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Minnehaha County’s $825 average weekly wage ranked 243rd among the 342 large U.S. counties in the second quarter of 2015. Nationally, weekly wages were higher than the U.S. average of $968 in 102 of the largest U.S. counties. Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,109. Santa Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,863, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,842), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,730). Minnehaha was among the 240 large U.S. counties with an average weekly wage below the national average. Horry, S.C. ($568) reported the lowest weekly wage, followed by the Texas counties of Cameron ($586), Hidalgo ($614), and Webb ($651).

Average weekly wages in South Dakota’s smaller counties

All 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $968. Among these smaller counties, Union County had the highest average weekly wage at $928 and Mellette County had the lowest at $449. (See table 2.)

When all 66 counties in South Dakota were considered, 9 reported average weekly wages of $549 or less, 18 had wages from $550 to $599, 12 reported wages from $600 to $649, and 27 had wages of $650 or more. (See chart 1.)

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 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 2014 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 2015 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2014 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2014/home.htm. The 2015 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2016.

The County Employment and Wages release for third quarter 2015 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 9, 2016.


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 9.6 million employer reports cover 140.6 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 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.

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.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the largest county in South Dakota, second quarter 2015
Area Employment Average weekly wage (1)
June 2015 (thousands) Percent change, June 2014-15 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, second quarter 2014-15 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

140,594.9 2.0 -- $968 -- 3.0 --

South Dakota

428.6 1.3 -- 740 49 3.9 4

Minnehaha, S.D.

125.2 2.0 160 825 243 3.8 51

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
 

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
 

Table 2. Covered employment and wages in the United States and all counties in South Dakota, second quarter 2015
Area Employment June 2015 Average weekly wage (1)

United States (2)

140,594,927 $968

South Dakota

428,576 740

Aurora

956 572

Beadle

8,870 675

Bennett

868 541

Bon Homme

1,995 599

Brookings

18,051 762

Brown

21,319 722

Brule

1,993 563

Buffalo

518 686

Butte

2,910 583

Campbell

506 589

Charles Mix

3,703 572

Clark

1,102 553

Clay

5,572 665

Codington

16,404 699

Corson

857 663

Custer

3,016 569

Davison

12,781 687

Day

2,029 538

Deuel

1,511 678

Dewey

2,256 665

Douglas

1,180 615

Edmunds

1,262 691

Fall River

2,594 671

Faulk

640 609

Grant

4,353 801

Gregory

1,526 539

Haakon

807 640

Hamlin

1,952 620

Hand

1,408 599

Hanson

600 657

Harding

457 765

Hughes

10,935 782

Hutchinson

2,723 596

Hyde

525 728

Jackson

840 510

Jerauld

1,504 620

Jones

493 520

Kingsbury

1,862 586

Lake

4,957 708

Lawrence

12,137 631

Lincoln

20,085 826

Lyman

1,477 509

Marshall

1,761 676

McCook

1,431 595

McPherson

662 515

Meade

7,082 674

Mellette

358 449

Miner

748 582

Minnehaha

125,173 825

Moody

2,331 667

Pennington

58,208 719

Perkins

1,229 544

Potter

961 566

Roberts

3,692 584

Sanborn

622 566

Shannon

3,670 725

Spink

2,478 631

Stanley

1,385 615

Sully

628 628

Todd

2,752 628

Tripp

2,165 629

Turner

2,157 582

Union

9,610 928

Walworth

2,332 580

Yankton

12,951 717

Ziebach

297 636

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
 

Note: Data are preliminary. Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
 

Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, second quarter 2015
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
June 2015 (thousands) Percent change, June 2014-15 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, second quarter 2014-15 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

140,594.9 2.0 $968 -- 3.0 --

Alabama

1,899.3 1.3 819 37 1.6 41

Alaska

346.6 0.4 1,028 8 2.4 30

Arizona

2,549.9 2.5 904 21 1.8 39

Arkansas

1,184.6 1.7 762 47 2.1 35

California

16,338.9 2.8 1,131 5 5.5 1

Colorado

2,517.1 3.2 989 13 3.0 13

Connecticut

1,693.1 0.9 1,177 4 2.0 38

Delaware

439.1 2.2 991 12 1.5 42

District of Columbia

745.1 1.8 1,599 1 1.8 39

Florida

7,907.7 3.6 861 28 2.6 23

Georgia

4,167.8 3.4 903 22 2.4 30

Hawaii

635.9 1.6 876 24 3.8 6

Idaho

678.5 2.9 713 50 2.3 33

Illinois

5,925.5 1.5 1,015 10 2.6 23

Indiana

2,966.0 1.7 811 40 3.4 7

Iowa

1,561.2 0.9 802 43 2.8 18

Kansas

1,382.1 0.7 819 37 2.8 18

Kentucky

1,850.5 1.7 822 35 3.0 13

Louisiana

1,930.6 0.5 850 30 0.8 47

Maine

615.8 0.8 768 46 2.9 16

Maryland

2,631.3 1.4 1,046 7 2.6 23

Massachusetts

3,488.3 2.1 1,211 2 4.7 2

Michigan

4,225.0 1.5 916 20 2.1 35

Minnesota

2,826.3 1.5 977 15 3.2 8

Mississippi

1,114.7 1.1 709 51 0.6 48

Missouri

2,746.6 1.7 842 32 2.8 18

Montana

461.5 1.8 754 48 2.7 21

Nebraska

968.7 1.2 787 44 4.1 3

Nevada

1,248.1 3.2 855 29 2.6 23

New Hampshire

647.7 1.5 967 16 1.3 46

New Jersey

4,000.2 1.5 1,126 6 2.6 23

New Mexico

808.4 0.8 805 41 1.4 44

New York

9,136.9 1.9 1,180 3 3.1 9

North Carolina

4,185.6 2.6 850 30 3.9 4

North Dakota

445.0 -1.8 939 18 0.3 50

Ohio

5,308.1 1.4 865 26 2.4 30

Oklahoma

1,591.5 0.6 818 39 0.5 49

Oregon

1,810.4 3.4 899 23 3.0 13

Pennsylvania

5,763.9 0.8 958 17 2.7 21

Rhode Island

480.0 1.5 925 19 2.9 16

South Carolina

1,963.5 2.5 782 45 2.1 35

South Dakota

428.6 1.3 740 49 3.9 4

Tennessee

2,832.1 2.8 863 27 3.1 9

Texas

11,689.4 2.4 988 14 1.5 42

Utah

1,345.9 3.9 821 36 3.1 9

Vermont

309.3 0.6 831 34 2.2 34

Virginia

3,767.2 1.7 1,000 11 2.5 29

Washington

3,197.6 3.3 1,026 9 3.1 9

West Virginia

706.5 -0.8 803 42 1.4 44

Wisconsin

2,839.8 1.0 836 33 2.6 23

Wyoming

291.5 -1.5 869 25 -0.1 51

Puerto Rico

884.6 -1.4 513 (3) 2.0 (3)

Virgin Islands

37.9 0.1 748 (3) 2.2 (3)

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(3) Data not included in the national ranking.
 

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
 

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in South Dakota, second quarter 2015

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2016