Workers in the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $18.93 in May 2013, about 15 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 16 of the 22 major occupational groups, including computer and mathematical; legal; and personal care and service. Wages were measurably higher than their respective national averages in only one group, production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction; installation, maintenance, and repair; and transportation and material moving. Conversely, ten groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013

Major occupational group	Percent of total employment			Mean hourly wage
	United States	Lafayette		United States	Lafayette		Percent difference(1)
Total, all occupations	100.0%	100.0%		$22.33	$18.93	*	-15
Management	4.9	3.6	*	53.15	47.38	*	-11
Business and financial operations	5.0	3.0	*	34.14	27.78	*	-19
Computer and mathematical	2.8	1.0	*	39.43	24.71	*	-37
Architecture and engineering	1.8	2.7	*	38.51	31.55	*	-18
Life, physical, and social science	0.9	0.6	*	33.37	33.48		0
Community and social service	1.4	1.1	*	21.50	20.50		-5
Legal	0.8	0.9		47.89	36.61	*	-24
Education, training, and library	6.3	4.1	*	24.76	23.92		-3
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media	1.3	0.7	*	26.72	17.13	*	-36
Healthcare practitioners and technical	5.8	5.9		35.93	29.89	*	-17
Healthcare support	3.0	3.1		13.61	11.02	*	-19
Protective service	2.5	1.6	*	20.92	17.76	*	-15
Food preparation and serving related	9.0	8.8		10.38	9.54	*	-8
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance	3.2	2.3	*	12.51	10.13	*	-19
Personal care and service	3.0	3.5	*	11.88	9.53	*	-20
Sales and related	10.6	12.1	*	18.37	15.34	*	-16
Office and administrative support	16.2	15.4	*	16.78	14.97	*	-11
Farming, fishing, and forestry	0.3	NA		11.70	NA		NA
Construction and extraction	3.8	6.8	*	21.94	19.07	*	-13
Installation, maintenance, and repair	3.9	6.8	*	21.35	20.22	*	-5
Production	6.6	7.0		16.79	18.27	*	9
Transportation and material moving	6.8	8.9	*	16.28	16.94		4
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Lafayette 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. NA: estimate is not available.

One occupational group–construction and extraction–was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Lafayette had 10,550 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 6.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.8-percent share nationally. However, at $19.07 per hour, the local average hourly wage for this occupational group was measurably below the national average of $21.94.

With employment of 1,600, oil, gas, and mining service unit operators was one of the largest occupations within the construction and extraction group, followed by oil and gas roustabouts (1,290), and construction laborers (1,190). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, and oil and gas rotary drill operators, with mean hourly wages of $30.57 and $24.62, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were carpenters’ helpers ($11.39) and extraction workers’ helpers ($12.23). (Detailed occupational data for construction and extraction are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of all detailed occupations, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29180.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 Lafayette metropolitan area, above average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, local oil, gas, and mining service unit operators were employed at 23.2 times the U.S. average, the fourth highest location quotient for this job among all U.S. metropolitan areas, while oil and gas roustabouts were employed at 16.2 times the national rate, the ninth highest ratio in the country. On the other hand, carpenters had a location quotient of 1.0 in Lafayette, 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 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. 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 for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,984 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 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 2013 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 Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes Lafayette and St. Martin Parishes in Louisiana.

Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southwest/home.htm. 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/2013/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: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013

Occupation(1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level(2)	Location quotient(3)	Hourly	Annual(4)
Construction and extraction occupations	10,550	1.8	$19.07	$39,670
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	730	1.3	30.57	63,590
Carpenters	660	1.0	17.49	36,390
Cement masons and concrete finishers	110	0.7	16.10	33,490
Construction laborers	1,190	1.2	13.09	27,220
Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	40	0.6	14.50	30,150
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	630	1.6	17.25	35,890
Drywall and ceiling tile installers	50	0.6	14.55	30,270
Electricians	720	1.1	21.20	44,100
Glaziers	70	1.3	13.04	27,120
Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall	(5)	(5)	10.84	22,540
Painters, construction and maintenance	350	1.6	16.71	34,760
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	270	0.7	20.60	42,850
Roofers	(5)	(5)	17.54	36,490
Sheet metal workers	70	0.5	20.20	42,010
Structural iron and steel workers	110	1.6	18.02	37,480
Helpers–carpenters	140	3.2	11.39	23,690
Helpers–electricians	150	2.0	13.79	28,680
Helpers–pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	100	1.8	12.75	26,520
Construction and building inspectors	100	0.9	28.30	58,860
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	50	1.9	14.81	30,800
Construction and related workers, all other	40	1.0	15.89	33,050
Derrick operators, oil and gas	390	14.9	22.71	47,230
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas	450	14.3	24.62	51,210
Service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining	1,600	23.2	20.34	42,310
Mining machine operators, all other	60	20.1	21.61	44,950
Roustabouts, oil and gas	1290	16.2	18.88	39,270
Helpers–extraction workers	170	6.3	12.23	25,440
Extraction workers, all other	400	42.8	16.42	34,140
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Lafayette MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29180.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.