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News Release Information

16-2149-NEW
Wednesday, November 09, 2016

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

County Employment and Wages in New York City – First Quarter 2016

Manhattan’s Average Weekly Wage Down 1.9 Percent

Average weekly wages in New York County, commonly known as the borough of Manhattan, declined 1.9 percent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that average weekly wages declined in the financial activities and professional and business services sectors. Manhattan’s average weekly wage of $2,783 was the highest among the nation’s 344 large counties, those with 75,000 or more jobs. Nationally, wages fell 0.5 percent over the year. (See chart 1.)

The fastest rate of employment growth among the City’s boroughs was in Brooklyn (Kings County), up 3.8 percent. (See table 1.) Nationally, employment grew 2.0 percent from March 2015 to March 2016. (See chart 2.)

Over-the-year wage changes

In the first quarter of 2016, 4 of the 5 counties of New York City had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Staten Island (Richmond County), at 4.2 percent, ranked 6th for wage gain in the national rankings and was the largest in the City. Two other boroughs in New York City ranked in the top 25 nationally for changes in average weekly wages—Queens, at 2.6 percent (ranked 21st), and the Bronx (Bronx County), at 2.5 percent (ranked 23rd). Brooklyn, with an increase of 1.5 percent, ranked 66th nationally. As noted, Manhattan wages declined 1.9 percent.

In Manhattan, 3 of 10 supersectors with 1,000 or more employees had over-the-year losses in average weekly wages. Financial activities had the largest drop, 5.2 percent, contributing the most to the over-the-year decline in the borough’s average weekly wage. Manufacturing declined 3.7 percent followed by professional and business services with a 1.7-percent decrease. In contrast, three supersectors had wage gains of at least 4.0 percent—construction (5.4 percent); other services (5.0 percent); and trade, transportation, and utilities (4.0 percent).

Nationally, four supersectors had over-the-year wage losses. The largest decline in average weekly wages occurred in natural resources and mining (-7.9 percent), followed by financial activities (-2.2 percent). Another four supersectors had over-the-year gains in average weekly wages of at least 1.0 percent. Construction had the largest increase at 3.8 percent, followed by information, at 2.7 percent.

Among the 344 largest U.S. counties, 167 had over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages and 164 had increases. McLean, Ill., had the largest wage loss (-13.3 percent). Clayton, Ga., had the largest gain, 15.5 percent.

Average weekly wages

Manhattan’s average weekly wage during the year ending in the first quarter of 2016 was more than two and a half times the national average—$2,783 compared to $1,043. Queens, with a weekly wage of $963, was highest among the four other New York City boroughs. Brooklyn had the lowest weekly wage, with an average of $825 per week, followed by Staten Island, $865. (See chart 3.)

Within Manhattan, the financial activities supersector had the highest first-quarter average weekly wage, $8,498. (See table 2.) Information had the second-highest average wage ($3,210), followed by natural resources and mining ($2,942) and professional and business services ($2,598). Manhattan’s leisure and hospitality supersector had the lowest average weekly wage, $828. Wages in every supersector were higher in Manhattan than their respective national averages.

Among the 344 largest counties in the nation, Santa Clara, Calif., trailed Manhattan with the second highest average weekly wage, $2,210, followed by San Mateo, Calif., $2,195; San Francisco, Calif., $2,054; and Somerset, N.J., $2,022. Four of the 10 counties with the highest wages in the nation were located in the greater New York area (New York, N.Y.; Somerset, N.J.; Fairfield, Conn.; and Morris, N.J.), while the rest were located in or around the San Francisco area, the Washington, D.C. area, and the Boston area.

Employment

From March 2015 to March 2016, three New York City counties gained jobs at rates at or above the national average of 2.0 percent. Brooklyn’s employment growth of 3.8 percent ranked 33rd among the nation’s 344 large counties, Queens’ 3.0-percent gain ranked 86th, and Staten Island’s 2.6-percent gain ranked 116th. Manhattan had an annual job gain of 1.9 percent, close to the national average, while employment in the Bronx grew 1.2 percent.

Within Manhattan, 8 of 10 supersectors with 1,000 or more employees reported over-the-year increases. Construction had the largest employment growth (8.6 percent). In addition to construction, employment growth in three other supersectors—professional and business services, financial activities, and government—was faster than their national averages.

Nationally, employment increased in 318 of the 344 largest U.S. counties from March 2015 to March 2016. Williamson, Tenn., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 7.9 percent over the year. Conversely, employment declined in 25 of the large counties. Midland, Texas, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-9.0 percent).

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

County employment and wage data for the second quarter 2016 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 7, 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 9.7 million employer reports cover 140.1 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 (see Technical Note below) 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, New York State, and five counties of New York City, first quarter 2016
Area Employment Average weekly wage (1)
March 2016 (thousands) Percent change, March 2015-16 (2) National ranking by percent change (3) Average weekly wage National ranking by level (3) Percent change, first quarter 2015-16 (2) National ranking by percent change (3)

United States (4)

140,070.8 2.0 -- $1,043 -- -0.5 --

New York

9,042.2 2.0 -- 1,456 2 -0.3 25

Bronx, N.Y.

300.2 1.2 251 927 163 2.5 23

Kings, N.Y.

678.4 3.8 33 825 260 1.5 66

New York, N.Y.

2,396.8 1.9 176 2,783 1 -1.9 264

Queens, N.Y.

639.1 3.0 86 963 142 2.6 21

Richmond, N.Y.

113.5 2.6 116 865 213 4.2 6

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 New York County, first quarter 2016
Area Employment Average weekly wage(1)
March 2016 (thousands) Percent change March 2015-16(2) Average weekly wage Percent change, first quarter 2015-16(2)

United States(3)

140,070.8 2.0 $1,043 -0.5

Private industry

118,350.0 2.1 1,049 -0.6

Natural resources and mining

1,768.9 -8.9 1,190 -7.9

Construction

6,363.7 5.4 1,053 3.8

Manufacturing

12,241.8 -0.2 1,259 -1.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

26,541.7 1.7 858 0.1

Information

2,767.3 0.9 2,009 3.1

Financial activities

7,851.0 1.7 2,111 -2.2

Professional and business services

19,626.4 2.1 1,375 -1.3

Education and health services

21,474.4 2.6 865 0.1

Leisure and hospitality

15,065.3 3.2 408 2.5

Other services

4,317.1 1.7 665 1.4

Government

21,720.8 0.9 1,008 0.2

New York, N.Y.

2,396.8 1.9 2,783 -1.9

Private industry

2,131.8 2.0 2,969 -2.2

Natural resources and mining

0.2 0.7 2,942 -3.1

Construction

39.6 8.6 1,825 5.4

Manufacturing

26.8 -1.0 1,552 -3.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

251.8 -2.6 1,407 4.0

Information

152.7 0.2 3,210 1.8

Financial activities

370.4 2.3 8,498 -5.2

Professional and business services

547.2 2.8 2,598 -1.7

Education and health services

341.0 1.7 1,226 1.4

Leisure and hospitality

287.5 1.9 828 2.9

Other services

99.7 0.1 1,213 5.0

Government

265.1 1.1 1,273 3.1

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) 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 3. Covered employment and wages by state, first quarter 2016
State Employment Average weekly wage (1)
March 2016 (thousands) Percent change, March 2015-16 Average weekly wage National ranking by level Percent change, first quarter 2015-16 National ranking by percent change

United States (2)

140,070.8 2.0 1043 -- -0.5 --

Alabama

1,902.6 1.6 842 37 -0.2 22

Alaska

317.6 -1.4 1028 15 -2 43

Arizona

2,679.8 2.8 918 23 -0.8 30

Arkansas

1,191.1 2.1 793 45 0.5 13

California

16,455.5 2.6 1206 6 0 20

Colorado

2,514.6 2.4 1057 13 -1.3 36

Connecticut

1,650.6 0.6 1362 3 -1.4 38

Delaware

429.7 1.5 1072 10 -3 48

District of Columbia

749.6 2.0 1766 1 0.4 14

Florida

8,301.8 3.5 887 27 0.2 18

Georgia

4,215.1 3.0 1008 17 1.9 2

Hawaii

645.1 1.4 896 26 1.7 3

Idaho

670.4 3.5 725 50 -1.5 39

Illinois

5,800.6 1.2 1126 7 -0.5 28

Indiana

2,949.5 1.9 853 33 -0.5 28

Iowa

1,518.2 0.9 844 36 -0.4 27

Kansas

1,362.3 0.4 833 38 -2 43

Kentucky

1,843.9 1.9 823 41 0.1 19

Louisiana

1,910.5 -0.8 860 32 -2.6 47

Maine

580.5 1.8 804 44 1.1 8

Maryland

2,591.7 1.9 1103 9 -0.8 30

Massachusetts

3,414.8 2.1 1327 4 -1 33

Michigan

4,163.7 2.1 976 20 0.7 11

Minnesota

2,750.1 1.5 1065 12 -1.2 34

Mississippi

1,121.0 1.7 713 51 0.4 14

Missouri

2,729.5 1.9 879 29 -0.3 25

Montana

447.8 1.8 751 49 0.3 16

Nebraska

956.6 1.4 817 42 0 20

Nevada

1,264.1 3.0 875 30 1.2 5

New Hampshire

635.1 1.9 998 18 1.6 4

New Jersey

3,909.7 2.4 1268 5 -1.7 41

New Mexico

800.4 0.0 792 46 -1.6 40

New York

9,042.2 2.0 1456 2 -0.3 25

North Carolina

4,220.3 3.0 928 22 -0.2 22

North Dakota

409.4 -6.2 908 25 -7.6 51

Ohio

5,236.2 1.8 913 24 -0.8 30

Oklahoma

1,578.6 -0.9 833 38 -4.1 49

Oregon

1,808.2 3.2 929 21 1.2 5

Pennsylvania

5,662.2 1.1 1012 16 -1.9 42

Rhode Island

464.6 1.9 985 19 -2.2 46

South Carolina

1,974.6 2.7 806 43 0.8 10

South Dakota

410.5 0.9 771 48 1.2 5

Tennessee

2,859.2 3.3 887 27 0.3 16

Texas

11,638.7 0.7 1066 11 -2.1 45

Utah

1,369.2 3.8 849 35 0.6 12

Vermont

304.6 0.1 832 40 1 9

Virginia

3,748.1 2.6 1057 13 -1.2 34

Washington

3,147.7 3.1 1121 8 3 1

West Virginia

683.9 -1.2 782 47 -1.3 36

Wisconsin

2,771.4 1.3 875 30 -0.2 22

Wyoming

267.9 -3.7 850 34 -4.7 50

Puerto Rico

895.2 -1.2 520 (3) -0.4 (3)

Virgin Islands

38.6 0.4 769 (3) 2.9 (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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, November 09, 2016