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News Release Information

15-1128-ATL
Thursday, July 09, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Jacksonville – May 2014

Workers in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.67 in May 2014, about 9 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 1 of the 22 major occupational groups. Fourteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including construction and extraction; computer and mathematical; and architecture and engineering.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; business and financial operations; and food preparation and serving related. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; management; and education, training, and library. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesJacksonvilleUnited StatesJacksonvillePercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$22.71$20.67*-9

Management

5.03.3*54.0854.912

Business and financial operations

5.16.6*34.8131.82*-9

Computer and mathematical

2.82.6*40.3735.56*-12

Architecture and engineering

1.81.3*39.1934.74*-11

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.5*33.6929.52*-12

Community and social services

1.41.1*21.7920.14*-8

Legal

0.80.848.6138.28*-21

Education, training, and library

6.24.7*25.1025.170

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.30.9*26.8223.64*-12

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.86.436.5434.43*-6

Healthcare support

2.92.813.8613.63-2

Protective service

2.42.521.1417.26*-18

Food preparation and serving related

9.110.1*10.5710.44-1

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.23.212.6811.90*-6

Personal care and service

3.12.2*12.0112.141

Sales and related

10.511.4*18.5917.02*-8

Office and administrative support

16.019.1*17.0816.07*-6

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3(2)*12.0916.73*38

Construction and extraction

3.93.922.4017.62*-21

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.4*21.7420.49*-6

Production

6.64.2*17.0616.57-3

Transportation and material moving

6.87.8*16.5716.27-2

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Jacksonville is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
(2) Indicates a value of less than 0.05 percent
* 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—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Jacksonville had 115,070 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 19.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.0-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.07, significantly below the national wage of $17.08.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (17,940), general office clerks (12,300), and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (11,810). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with mean hourly wages of $25.60 and $22.43, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($9.76) and switchboard operators, including answering service ($11.13). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_27260.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 Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, credit authorizers, checkers, and clerks were employed at 6.2 times the national rate in Jacksonville, and file clerks, at 2.5 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, stock clerks and order fillers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Jacksonville, 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 Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Note

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 mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,789 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.

The May 2014 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 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 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

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 Jacksonville, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. 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/2014/may/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, Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Office and Administrative Support Occupations

115,0701.2$16.07$33,430

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

7,1201.125.6053,260

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

5201.111.1323,160

Telephone Operators

701.621.2544,210

Bill and Account Collectors

3,4402.215.0531,300

Billing and Posting Clerks

2,7001.215.5032,240

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

7,1901.017.4436,270

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks

5000.718.3338,120

Procurement Clerks

2800.920.0541,700

Tellers

2,9101.314.4530,050

Financial Clerks, All Other

8204.918.7639,030

Brokerage Clerks

1500.619.1639,840

Court, Municipal, and License Clerks

2400.416.7834,910

Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks

1,2906.218.0837,610

Customer Service Representatives

17,9401.615.1431,490

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs

6601.222.0145,780

File Clerks

1,6402.513.8928,900

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

1,2401.29.7620,290

Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan

8801.015.4432,110

Library Assistants, Clerical

4000.911.1923,270

Loan Interviewers and Clerks

2,6702.818.8439,190

New Accounts Clerks

1100.517.5736,550

Order Clerks

5600.713.9929,090

Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping

6001.016.6034,520

Receptionists and Information Clerks

5,4201.212.9426,920

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

6201.015.8132,880

Information and Record Clerks, All Other

1,3301.716.3634,020

Cargo and Freight Agents

6301.820.4042,440

Couriers and Messengers

1800.612.5426,080

Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers

(5)(5)16.2733,850

Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

1,1201.317.1435,650

Meter Readers, Utilities

900.615.9133,090

Postal Service Clerks

2100.625.3752,770

Postal Service Mail Carriers

1,1700.925.1552,320

Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

1,1402.124.3150,570

Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks

1,1500.922.0245,790

Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks

2,3400.815.1531,510

Stock Clerks and Order Fillers

8,5201.011.6424,200

Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping

3501.114.5630,290

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

3,4601.122.4346,660

Legal Secretaries

1,0501.117.2535,880

Medical Secretaries

1,4500.615.2831,790

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

11,8101.215.0631,330

Computer Operators

2200.921.0643,810

Data Entry Keyers

1,6501.814.0529,220

Word Processors and Typists

2100.615.5232,280

Desktop Publishers

500.815.7932,840

Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks

3,0402.717.3636,120

Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

3500.814.1129,350

Office Clerks, General

12,3001.013.0527,150

Office Machine Operators, Except Computer

3301.112.7626,540

Statistical Assistants

400.722.0745,910

Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other

4500.413.8828,870

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Jacksonville, FL, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27260.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: Thursday, July 09, 2015