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News Release Information

14-1308-BOS
Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

County Employment and Wages in Connecticut — Fourth Quarter 2013

Three of Connecticut’s four large counties reported employment increases from December 2012 to December 2013, 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 2012 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Deborah A. Brown noted that Fairfield County had the largest rate of employment growth, up 0.7 percent. Hartford and New Haven Counties each reported an employment gain of 0.2 percent, while Connecticut’s remaining large county, New London, recorded an over-the-year decline of 1.5 percent.

Nationally, employment increased 1.8 percent from December 2012 to December 2013, as 292 of the 334 largest counties registered increases. Weld County, Colo., had the largest percentage increase, up 6.0 percent over the year. St. Clair, Ill., experienced the largest over-the-year decrease in employment among the large counties in the U.S. with a loss of 3.1 percent.

Among the four largest counties in Connecticut, employment was highest in Hartford (501,819) and lowest in New London (121,741). Along with Fairfield and New Haven, the four large counties accounted for 84.6 percent of the state’s total employment in December 2013. Nationwide, the 334 largest counties accounted for 71.7 percent of total U.S. employment.

New Haven (0.5 percent) and New London (0.1 percent) recorded increases in average weekly wages from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013, while Fairfield (-3.3 percent) and Hartford (-1.0 percent) experienced decreases over the year. Fairfield County had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $1,653 and ranked sixth-highest among the nation’s 334 largest counties. (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage was unchanged over the year, remaining at $1,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the four counties in Connecticut with employment below 75,000. Average weekly wages in three of these smaller counties were below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large County Wage Changes

New Haven County’s wage increase of 0.5 percent ranked 141st among the 334 largest U.S. counties. (See table 1.)  New London County’s wage gain of 0.1 percent ranked 174th nationally. The wage decreases in Hartford (-1.0 percent) and Fairfield (-3.3 percent) ranked 253rd and 325th, respectively.

Nationwide, 185 of the 334 largest counties had over-the-year gains in average weekly wages from the fourth quarter of 2012. Santa Cruz, Calif., had the largest wage gain in the nation, up 6.5 percent.

Of the 334 largest counties, 140 experienced over-the year decreases in average weekly wages. Douglas, Colo., had the largest average weekly wage decrease with a loss of 29.7 percent.

Large County Average Weekly Wages

As noted, average weekly wages in Fairfield County placed sixth among the 334 largest U.S. counties in the fourth quarter of 2013. Hartford ($1,197, 34th) and New Haven ($1,040, 76th) joined Fairfield with average weekly wages above the U.S. average of $1,000, placing all three in the top quarter of the nationwide ranking. The average weekly wage in the state’s remaining large county, New London ($971), was below the national average, but still ranked in the top half nationwide at 120th.

Among the highest-paid large U.S. counties, San Mateo, Calif., held the top position with an average weekly wage of $2,724. New York, N.Y., was second with an average weekly wage of $2,041, followed by Santa Clara, Calif. ($1,972), and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,753).

Horry, S.C. ($587) reported the lowest wage nationwide, followed by the counties of Cameron and Hidalgo, Texas ($598 and $620, respectively). Wages in the lowest-ranked county, Horry, were less than one-fourth of the average weekly wage reported for the highest-ranked county, San Mateo, Calif.

Average Weekly Wages in Connecticut’s Smaller Counties

Three of the four counties in Connecticut with employment below 75,000—Litchfield, Windham, and Tolland counties—had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $1,000, with Windham reporting the lowest, $797. Middlesex County was the exception, with an average weekly wage of $1,023. (See table 2.)

When considering all eight counties in Connecticut, four had an average weekly wage above the national average of $1,000. New London was just below the national average with an average weekly wage of $971, while wages in the remaining counties were all below $900 per week. (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.

An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online, features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2012 edition of this publication, which was published in September 2013, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2013 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm. The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2014. 

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Services: 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 9.3 million employer reports cover 136.1 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 employment and wages in the United States and the 4 largest counties in Connecticut, fourth quarter 2013
Area Employment Average Weekly Wage (1)
December
2013
(thousands)
Percent change,
December
2012-13 (2)
National
ranking by
percent change (3)
Average
weekly
wage
National
ranking by
level (3)
Percent change,
fourth quarter
2012-13 (2)
National
ranking by
percent change (3)

United States (4)

136,129.4 1.8 -- $1,000 -- 0.0 --

Connecticut

1,661.2 0.3 -- 1,238 4 -1.3 49

Fairfield, Conn.

420.0 0.7 230 1,653 6 -3.3 325

Hartford, Conn.

501.8 0.2 279 1,197 34 -1.0 253

New Haven, Conn.

361.9 0.2 279 1,040 76 0.5 141

New London, Conn.

121.7 -1.5 329 971 120 0.1 174

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

Table 2. Covered(1) employment and wages in the United States and all of the counties in Connecticut, fourth quarter 2013(2)
Area Employment December 2013 Average Weekly Wage(3)

United States(4)

136,129,407 $1,000

Connecticut

1,661,204 1,238

Fairfield

420,040 1,653

Hartford

501,819 1,197

Litchfield

61,481 864

Middlesex

67,335 1,023

New Haven

361,876 1,040

New London

121,741 971

Tolland

41,105 877

Windham

39,893 797

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 employment and wages by state, fourth quarter 2013
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
December
2013
(thousands)
Percent change,
December
2012-13
Average
weekly
wage
National
ranking by
level
Percent change,
fourth quarter
2012-13
National
ranking by
percent change

United States (2)

136,129.4 1.8 $1,000 -- 0.0 --

Alabama

1,866.5 1.0 851 34 -0.5 39

Alaska

315.1 0.0 1,022 14 1.6 7

Arizona

2,571.0 2.4 906 23 -0.5 39

Arkansas

1,154.3 -0.5 771 47 0.4 22

California

15,650.3 2.8 1,175 6 -0.9 43

Colorado

2,383.9 3.1 1,023 13 -0.9 43

Connecticut

1,661.2 0.3 1,238 4 -1.3 49

Delaware

419.6 1.8 1,035 9 -0.6 41

District of Columbia

727.3 0.6 1,638 1 -3.9 51

Florida

7,739.5 2.7 883 29 0.2 27

Georgia

3,986.9 2.5 924 21 -0.1 32

Hawaii

632.9 1.7 871 30 0.3 25

Idaho

634.5 2.6 754 50 3.0 2

Illinois

5,758.9 1.0 1,060 8 0.2 27

Indiana

2,896.9 1.6 814 40 -0.2 35

Iowa

1,510.9 1.4 834 38 1.6 7

Kansas

1,359.5 1.6 832 39 -0.4 38

Kentucky

1,818.0 1.2 804 42 0.2 27

Louisiana

1,911.6 0.9 889 26 0.5 20

Maine

586.8 0.8 786 46 1.7 5

Maryland

2,555.1 0.4 1,076 7 -0.9 43

Massachusetts

3,332.9 1.5 1,258 3 0.8 17

Michigan

4,072.4 2.0 952 20 -0.2 35

Minnesota

2,720.6 1.7 988 16 0.3 25

Mississippi

1,108.1 1.1 729 51 1.3 11

Missouri

2,670.4 1.1 861 32 -0.2 35

Montana

440.0 1.3 760 48 0.4 22

Nebraska

944.3 1.4 796 43 -0.1 32

Nevada

1,180.5 3.0 884 28 0.7 18

New Hampshire

629.3 1.4 1,017 15 -0.8 42

New Jersey

3,887.5 1.2 1,186 5 1.1 14

New Mexico

796.2 -0.1 814 40 1.4 10

New York

8,888.6 1.7 1,266 2 -1.1 48

North Carolina

4,045.5 1.9 860 33 0.7 18

North Dakota

435.0 3.3 980 17 3.8 1

Ohio

5,175.4 1.4 887 27 0.0 30

Oklahoma

1,581.3 0.6 851 34 -0.1 32

Oregon

1,699.6 2.5 894 25 2.6 3

Pennsylvania

5,650.3 0.4 976 18 0.4 22

Rhode Island

462.7 1.4 960 19 1.5 9

South Carolina

1,875.8 2.3 793 44 1.0 15

South Dakota

407.1 1.3 759 49 1.3 11

Tennessee

2,758.3 1.8 895 24 -0.9 43

Texas

11,246.3 2.6 1,027 12 0.0 30

Utah

1,284.7 3.1 836 37 -0.9 43

Vermont

308.5 0.6 848 36 2.3 4

Virginia

3,670.0 0.1 1,028 11 -1.3 49

Washington

2,976.0 2.5 1,034 10 1.7 5

West Virginia

710.1 -0.6 792 45 0.5 20

Wisconsin

2,751.8 1.0 865 31 1.2 13

Wyoming

279.2 0.6 917 22 1.0 15

Puerto Rico

958.3 -2.3 551 (3) 0.2 (3)

Virgin Islands

38.5 -3.6 754 (3) 2.4 (3)

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

 Chart 1. Average weekly wages by county in Connecticut, fourth quarter 2013

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2014