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News Release Information

15-834-ATL
Wednesday, June 17, 2015

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

Occupational Employment and Wages in Louisville-Jefferson County – May 2014

Workers in the Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.35 in May 2014, about 10 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. Fifteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including computer and mathematical, management, and business and financial operations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 4 of the 22 occupational groups, including production and transportation and material moving. Conversely, 15 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; business and financial operations; and architecture and engineering. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesLouisvilleUnited StatesLouisvillePercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$22.71$20.35*-10

Management

5.04.7*54.0845.77*-15

Business and financial operations

5.14.3*34.8129.54*-15

Computer and mathematical

2.82.2*40.3732.07*-21

Architecture and engineering

1.81.0*39.1933.23*-15

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.3*33.6927.04*-20

Community and social services

1.41.2*21.7919.52*-10

Legal

0.80.6*48.6134.03*-30

Education, training, and library

6.24.7*25.1023.97-5

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.0*26.8220.14*-25

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.86.6*36.5432.93*-10

Healthcare support

2.92.813.8613.931

Protective service

2.42.0*21.1416.69*-21

Food preparation and serving related

9.19.310.579.80*-7

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.22.8*12.6811.47*-10

Personal care and service

3.12.8*12.0111.16*-7

Sales and related

10.59.9*18.5917.99-3

Office and administrative support

16.015.617.0816.41*-4

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*12.0913.07*8

Construction and extraction

3.93.5*22.4020.74*-7

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.2*21.7421.730

Production

6.610.2*17.0617.120

Transportation and material moving

6.810.1*16.5718.089

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Louisville 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. Louisville-Jefferson County had 63,500 jobs in production, accounting for 10.2 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.12, compared to the national wage of $17.06.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (14,830); inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (3,890); and cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic (3,390). Among the higher paying jobs were power plant operators and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers, with mean hourly wages of $28.98 and $26.37, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($9.57) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.62). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_31140.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 Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the production group. For instance, cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic were employed at 3.9 times the national rate in Louisville, and woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing, at 2.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, machinists had a location quotient of 0.9 in Louisville, 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 Kentucky Department for Workforce Investment.

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 Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area included 5,066 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Bullitt, Henry, Jefferson, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby, Spencer, and Trimble Counties of Kentucky, and Clark, Floyd, Harrison, and Washington Counties of Indiana.

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, Louisville-Jefferson County Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2014
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Production Occupations

63,5001.5$17.12$35,600

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers

3,3401.226.3754,840

Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers

500.713.6928,480

Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers

3700.413.6528,380

Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers

3501.617.0835,520

Engine and Other Machine Assemblers

(5)(5)14.8030,790

Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

3701.020.6242,890

Team Assemblers

14,8302.917.7236,860

Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other

3,0602.812.0825,130

Bakers

2800.412.1125,190

Butchers and Meat Cutters

3500.615.5832,410

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

4600.712.2725,530

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

400.513.7928,680

Food Batchmakers

7501.413.0927,240

Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders

3602.116.2433,790

Food Processing Workers, All Other

(5)(5)11.2123,310

Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic

5700.817.2335,840

Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic

300.319.9241,430

Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

4201.315.3731,970

Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1401.522.9547,730

Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

5903.816.8034,930

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

3,3903.921.1543,990

Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1001.315.4632,160

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

3000.916.6534,640

Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1400.717.2635,900

Machinists

1,6600.921.5444,800

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

400.417.0835,530

Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

5601.014.6130,380

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,0802.415.4432,110

Tool and Die Makers

8702.525.5753,180

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

2,4601.419.0239,570

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

4101.614.0129,140

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

500.516.6234,570

Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1601.014.0929,310

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

1202.512.9826,990

Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other

800.814.9030,990

Prepress Technicians and Workers

1701.016.8635,070

Printing Press Operators

1,3501.818.0737,590

Print Binding and Finishing Workers

2301.015.9333,130

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers

5800.69.6220,010

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials

3501.59.5719,900

Sewing Machine Operators

5700.913.2427,530

Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers

901.013.7628,620

Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers

(5)(5)17.1035,570

Upholsterers

800.613.9028,920

Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other

600.813.0727,190

Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters

7001.715.6932,640

Furniture Finishers

901.313.4828,040

Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood

2201.011.5624,040

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

9402.914.6630,490

Power Distributors and Dispatchers

1102.244.5692,680

Power Plant Operators

1400.828.9860,270

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators

1300.819.6840,930

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

2500.518.0437,520

Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers

1100.635.8374,520

Plant and System Operators, All Other

801.524.8951,780

Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

2400.826.6855,490

Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

2901.521.6044,920

Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

1701.215.3831,990

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

(5)(5)12.5326,070

Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

5701.017.9237,280

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

(5)(5)12.5426,070

Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

4801.716.3634,040

Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

5901.912.1225,210

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

3,8901.718.1337,710

Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers

(5)(5)17.4536,290

Dental Laboratory Technicians

2201.317.9037,240

Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

2301.814.1929,510

Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders

3,3601.913.8928,890

Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

5101.215.7632,790

Painters, Transportation Equipment

1500.726.3654,830

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

1502.013.0627,160

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

600.414.6530,480

Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders

1101.315.8332,920

Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders

400.512.3125,610

Etchers and Engravers

(5)(5)14.7530,680

Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic

1400.910.3421,510

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

5701.416.8435,030

Helpers--Production Workers

2,5101.313.0427,130

Production Workers, All Other

3,4003.412.8026,630

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_31140.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, June 17, 2015