Employment down in all of the 357 largest U.S. counties from June 2019 to June 2020

From June 2019 to June 2020, employment decreased in all of the 357 largest U.S. counties. Atlantic County, New Jersey (part of the Atlantic City metropolitan area), had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 34.2 percent, followed by Maui + Kalawao County, Hawaii (−32.6 percent), and Barnstable County, Massachusetts (−21.1 percent). National employment decreased to 135.1 million, a 9.4-percent decline over the year ended June 2020.

352 of the 357 largest counties had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Atlantic County, New Jersey, had the largest over-the-year wage gain in the second quarter at 22.5 percent, while Ector County, Texas, and Midland County, Texas had the largest fall in wages, at 6.6 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. Among the 10 largest U.S. counties, New York County, New York, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in average weekly wages (+14.9 percent). Average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,188 in the second quarter of 2020, an 8.6-percent increase over the year. The increases in average weekly wages largely reflect substantial employment loss among lower-paid industries.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program and are preliminary. Large counties are defined as having employment of at least 75,000. To learn more, see “County Employment and Wages – Second Quarter 2020.” You can view employment data for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan areas through the data viewer tool.