Employment changes in the largest counties, December 2008

Nine of the 10 largest counties experienced over-the-year percent declines in employment in December 2008. Maricopa, Ariz., experienced the largest decline in employment among the 10 largest counties with a 5.8 percent decrease.

[Chart data—TXT]

Within Maricopa, every private industry group except education and health services experienced employment declines, with construction experiencing the largest decline.

Orange, Calif., had the next largest decline in employment, -4.8 percent, followed by Miami-Dade, Fla., -4.2 percent. Dallas, Texas, had the smallest decrease in employment, -1.2 percent, followed by New York, N.Y., -1.3 percent.

Harris, Texas, experienced the only percentage gain in employment among the 10 largest counties: 1.0 percent. Within Harris County, the largest gains in employment were in natural resources and mining, and education and health services.

Nine of the 10 largest U.S. counties saw an over-the-year increase in average weekly wages; the only wage decrease occurred in New York, N.Y.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. The 10 largest counties are determined by 2007 annual average employment levels. To learn more, see "County Employment and Wages: Fourth Quarter 2008" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-0841.