Workers in the Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.61 in May 2016, about 22 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media. Local wages were higher in one group, production, and not statistically different from the respective national average in one group.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 8 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; sales and related; and personal care and service. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical; business and financial operations; and production. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Shreveport- Bossier City, LA		United States	Shreveport- Bossier City, LA		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0	100.0		$23.86	$18.61	*	-22
Management	5.1	4.0	*	56.74	44.48	*	-22
Business and financial operations	5.2	3.2	*	36.09	28.08	*	-22
Computer and mathematical	3.0	0.8	*	42.25	29.62	*	-30
Architecture and engineering	1.8	0.9	*	40.53	34.09	*	-16
Life, physical, and social science	0.8	0.4	*	35.06	30.64	*	-13
Community and social service	1.4	1.2	*	22.69	21.28	*	-6
Legal	0.8	0.6	*	50.95	32.96	*	-35
Education, training, and library	6.2	6.0		26.21	21.67	*	-17
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.4	0.7	*	28.07	19.86	*	-29
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.9	8.7	*	38.06	31.40	*	-17
Healthcare support	2.9	3.7	*	14.65	12.32	*	-16
Protective service	2.4	2.6		22.03	18.26	*	-17
Food preparation and serving related	9.2	10.1	*	11.47	9.52	*	-17
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	3.7	*	13.47	10.59	*	-21
Personal care and service	3.2	4.4	*	12.74	10.11	*	-21
Sales and related	10.4	12.6	*	19.50	14.98	*	-23
Office and administrative support	15.7	15.0		17.91	15.19	*	-15
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	0.1	*	13.37	14.82		11
Construction and extraction	4.0	4.6	*	23.51	18.80	*	-20
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	4.9	*	22.45	18.78	*	-16
Production	6.5	5.3	*	17.88	18.41	*	3
Transportation and material moving	6.9	6.8		17.34	15.19	*	-12
Footnotes: (1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA 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–healthcare practitioners and technical–was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Shreveport had 15,470 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent national share. However, the local wage for this occupational group was significantly below the U.S. average. At $31.40 an hour, the mean wage for Shreveport healthcare practitioners and technical workers was about 17 percent below the $38.06 national average.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (5,090), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (2,660), and pharmacy technicians (540). Among the higher-paying jobs were anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists, with mean hourly wages of $135.25 and $77.30, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were emergency medical technicians and paramedics ($13.51) and pharmacy technicians ($14.51). (Detailed occupational data for the healthcare practitioners and technical group are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43340.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 Shreveport metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses were employed at 3.0 times the national average in Shreveport, and medical and clinical laboratory technicians, at 2.6 times the national rate. Both location quotients were among the highest in all metropolitan areas for these particular occupations. On the other hand, pharmacists had a location quotient of 1.0 in Shreveport, indicating that this specific 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 Louisiana Workforce Commission.

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. 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 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,111 establishments with a response rate of 73 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 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.

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 Shreveport-Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bossier, Caddo, De Soto and Webster Parishes in Louisiana.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest. 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 the 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, Shreveport-Bossier City, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	15,470	1.5	$31.40	$65,310
Dentists, general	80	0.6	42.86	89,150
Dietitians and nutritionists	80	1.1	25.00	51,990
Pharmacists	400	1.0	57.95	120,530
Anesthesiologists	(5)	(5)	135.25	281,310
Physicians and surgeons, all other	450	1.1	94.67	196,910
Physician assistants	170	1.3	43.18	89,820
Occupational therapists	130	0.9	41.24	85,790
Physical therapists	230	0.8	41.17	85,630
Respiratory therapists	310	1.9	24.50	50,970
Speech-language pathologists	190	1.1	30.63	63,720
Therapists, all other	(5)	(5)	21.32	44,340
Veterinarians	70	0.8	36.87	76,700
Registered nurses	5,090	1.4	29.05	60,430
Nurse anesthetists	110	2.2	77.30	160,780
Nurse practitioners	200	1.1	50.42	104,860
Medical and clinical laboratory technicians	520	2.6	14.67	30,520
Dental hygienists	160	0.6	24.28	50,510
Diagnostic medical sonographers	(5)	(5)	27.22	56,610
Nuclear medicine technologists	60	2.3	32.81	68,230
Radiologic technologists	370	1.5	21.24	44,170
Magnetic resonance imaging technologists	(5)	(5)	28.91	60,140
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	280	0.9	13.51	28,100
Pharmacy technicians	540	1.1	14.51	30,180
Surgical technologists	230	1.7	17.49	36,390
Veterinary technologists and technicians	100	0.8	13.20	27,460
Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses	2,660	3.0	18.30	38,060
Medical records and health information technicians	360	1.4	17.46	36,320
Opticians, dispensing	50	0.5	16.07	33,430
Health technologists and technicians, all other	240	1.6	17.50	36,410
Occupational health and safety specialists	60	0.6	32.65	67,910
Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other	230	5.0	17.98	37,400
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_43340.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) Estimates not released.