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News Release Information

18-443-CHI
Wednesday, May 16, 2018

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Youngstown-Warren-Boardman — May 2017

Workers in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.88 in May 2017, about 18 percent below the nationwide average of $24.34, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; management; and computer and mathematical. Three occupational groups had wages that were not significantly different from their respective national averages, including production and construction and extraction.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including sales and related; production; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and management. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2017
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesYoungstownUnited StatesYoungstownPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$24.34$19.88*-18

Management

5.13.5*57.6545.55*-21

Business and financial operations

5.23.0*36.7029.12*-21

Computer and mathematical

3.01.0*43.1831.95*-26

Architecture and engineering

1.81.2*41.4434.98*-16

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.2*35.7631.35*-12

Community and social service

1.52.0*23.1018.95*-18

Legal

0.80.5*51.6234.51*-33

Education, training, and library

6.16.026.6731.0616

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.40.8*28.3417.50*-38

Healthcare practitioners and technical

6.07.0*38.8332.74*-16

Healthcare support

2.94.2*15.0513.49*-10

Protective service

2.42.9*22.6919.79*-13

Food preparation and serving related

9.310.8*11.8810.10*-15

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.13.113.9112.70*-9

Personal care and service

3.63.0*13.1111.41*-13

Sales and related

10.212.5*19.5615.34*-22

Office and administrative support

15.414.4*18.2415.97*-12

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*13.8715.51*12

Construction and extraction

4.03.6*24.0123.37-3

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.823.0220.90*-9

Production

6.38.6*18.3018.903

Transportation and material moving

7.07.717.8216.62*-7

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman had 18,300 jobs in production, accounting for 8.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.90, compared to the national wage of $18.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers (2,400); first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,640); and cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic (1,190). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and tool and die makers, with mean hourly wages of $31.01 and $26.13, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.04) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.35). (Detailed data for production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49660.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 9.7 times the national rate in Youngstown, and metal-refining furnace operators and tenders, at 7.0 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Youngstown, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the release of the May 2017 estimates, the OES program has replaced 21 detailed occupations found in the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) with 10 new aggregations of those occupations. In addition, selected 4- and 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries previously published by OES will no longer be published separately. Some of the 4-digit NAICS industries that are no longer being published separately will instead be published as OES-specific industry aggregations. More information about the new occupational and industry aggregations is available at www.bls.gov/oes/changes_2017.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2017 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2017, November 2016, May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, and November 2014. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 72 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted sample employment of 82 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,850 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

The May 2017 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2017 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Mahoning and Trumbull Counties of Ohio, and Mercer County of Pennsylvania.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/midwest. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/current/methods_statement.pdf.

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. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2017
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production occupations

18,3001.4$18.90$39,310

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,6401.831.0164,490

Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers

3901.016.3333,980

Engine and other machine assemblers

801.423.2948,440

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

1801.522.2446,250

Assemblers and fabricators, all other, including team assemblers

2,4001.215.9933,260

Bakers

4301.615.4732,180

Butchers and meat cutters

1500.816.3233,940

Food batchmakers

2601.215.3531,920

Food processing workers, all other

400.611.3923,700

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

4802.218.9439,400

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

6806.217.9137,250

Forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

602.219.3840,300

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3709.719.2540,040

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1,1904.217.3336,040

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

503.016.9235,190

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3803.415.4132,050

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

400.918.9839,480

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

(5)(5)20.8343,320

Machinists

8401.521.2544,210

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1807.020.5242,680

Pourers and casters, metal

504.318.1737,790

Foundry mold and coremakers

401.820.1141,830

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

(5)(5)18.3038,060

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

6103.318.8539,200

Tool and die makers

5404.926.1354,360

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

8401.518.6138,720

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1202.117.0535,450

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1103.721.6244,970

Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1202.118.4738,420

Metal workers and plastic workers, all other

601.917.3035,980

Prepress technicians and workers

400.818.3438,140

Printing press operators

3201.218.5938,660

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

4101.310.3521,540

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

(5)(5)10.0420,870

Sewing machine operators

1000.512.9426,910

Upholsterers

(5)(5)15.3031,830

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

(5)(5)17.7536,930

Furniture finishers

602.215.5632,370

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

901.112.0725,110

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

1601.414.2029,530

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

(5)(5)23.5949,070

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

3301.923.3848,630

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

801.714.5930,350

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

700.417.7436,910

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

500.613.8528,800

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

1301.218.0237,470

Furnace, kiln, oven, drier, and kettle operators and tenders

502.018.2037,870

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,0601.319.4640,480

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

401.018.2637,980

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

(5)(5)12.9927,020

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

3400.614.9030,990

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

1801.418.8539,200

Painters, transportation equipment

600.820.5442,720

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

1903.113.4127,900

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

700.511.4723,850

Helpers--production workers

4900.814.2829,700

Production workers, all other

3801.015.7632,770

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_49660.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
(4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(5) Estimate not released.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2018