Eight of the 12 largest counties in Virginia registered employment increases from March 2013 to March 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2013 annual average employment.) Chesterfield County had the fastest employment increase at 2.0 percent, followed by Loudoun County at 1.5 percent. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Chesterfield’s and Loudoun’s employment growth rates were in the upper half of the nation’s 339 largest counties. Arlington and Fairfax Counties along with Alexandria and Norfolk cities recorded the only employment declines among Virginia’s large counties

Nationally, employment grew 1.7 percent during this 12-month period, as 281 of the 339 large counties nationwide gained jobs. Weld, Colo., experienced the largest percentage increase in employment, up 7.5 percent over the year. Peoria, Ill., had the largest employment decrease with a loss of 2.6 percent.

Among the 12 largest counties in Virginia, employment was highest in Fairfax County (576,400) in March 2014. No other county in the Commonwealth had employment above 200,000. Together, Virginia’s large counties accounted for 56.4 percent of total employment within the Commonwealth. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 72.0 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in Henrico County, Va., rose 6.2 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, the fastest increase among Virginia’s 12 largest counties, ranking 18th nationwide. Alexandria City had the second-highest rate of wage growth at 5.3 percent. Arlington County had the highest average weekly wage among the largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,669, followed by Fairfax County ($1,580) and Alexandria City ($1,368). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 3.8 percent over the year to $1,027 in the first quarter of 2014.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000. All but 5 (Goochland, Surry, King George, Falls Church City, and Manassas City) of these 122 counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

From the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, 10 of the 12 large counties in Virginia recorded wage increases. Three of these counties, led by Henrico County (6.2 percent), recorded wage gains greater than the national increase of 3.8 percent. Seven other counties recorded increases in average weekly wages ranging from 3.7 to 1.2 percent. Cheasapeake City had a 0.7-percent decrease from the first quarter of 2013, while wages in Prince William County were almost unchanged, declining 0.1 percent.

Of the 339 largest counties nationwide, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Chester, Pa., led the nation in average weekly wage growth with an increase of 13.9 percent from the first quarter of 2013. New York, N.Y., was second with a gain of 12.0 percent, followed by San Mateo, Calif., and Forsyth, N.C., each at 9.6 percent.

Nationwide, 15 large counties recorded decreases in average weekly wages over the year. Benton, Ark., had the largest decrease in wages with a decline of 3.2 percent from the first quarter of 2013. Cumberland, N.C., had the second largest decrease in average weekly wages (-2.0 percent), followed by Dutchess, N.Y. (-1.6 percent); Ocean, N.J. (-1.3 percent); and McLean, Ill. (-1.0 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Arlington County had the ninth highest average weekly wage among the 339 large U.S. counties. Five other large counties in Virginia—Fairfax, Alexandria City, Loudoun, Richmond City, and Henrico—also had average wages greater than $1,000, placing them in the top fifth of all large counties. These six counties were the only large counties in Virginia to record wages above the national average.

In Virginia Beach City and Chesapeake City, average weekly wages placed in the bottom fifth of the national ranking at 297th and 303rd, respectively.

Average weekly wages in Virginia’s smaller counties

All but 5 of the 122 counties in Virginia with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $1,027. Highland County reported the lowest wage level at $480. The highest wage among Virginia’s 122 small counties was Goochland County’s $1,902, followed by Surry County’s $1,545 and King George County’s $1,504. (See table 2.)

When all 134 counties in Virginia were considered, 123 had wages below the national average of $1,027. One county—Highland—reported  average weekly wages below $500, 69 reported wages from $501 to $700, 41 had wages from $701 to $900, 12 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 11 had wages above $1,101. Of the 11 counties with above-average wages, 6 were concentrated in the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., and 3 were located in the Richmond area.

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2012 edition of this publication, which is now available, contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well data through the first quarter 2013 version of the national news release and the 2012 annual averages. Tables and additional content from the Employment and Wages Annual 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Technical Note

Average weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.4 million employer reports cover 134.6 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels of those covered by UI programs. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter. It is to be noted, therefore, that over-the-year wage changes for geographic areas may reflect shifts in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and such other factors as hours of work. Thus, wages may vary among counties, metropolitan areas, or states for reasons other than changes in the average wage level. Data for all states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew/; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons—some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes.

The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the individual states as well as from the data presented on the BLS Web site. These potential differences result from the states’ continuing receipt, review and editing of UI data over time. On the other hand, differences between data in this release and the data found on the BLS Web site are the result of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Specifically, these adjustments account for administrative (noneconomic) changes such as a correction to a previously reported location or industry classification. Adjusting for these administrative changes allows users to more accurately assess changes of an economic nature (such as a firm moving from one county to another or changing its primary economic activity) over a 12-month period. Currently, adjusted data are available only from BLS press releases.

Table 1. Covered(1) employment and wages in the United States and the 12 largest counties in Virginia, first quarter 2014(2)

Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage (3)
	March 2014 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2013-14(4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, first quarter 2013-14(4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	134,555.0	1.7	--	$1,027	--	3.8	--
Virginia	3,613.2	0.0	--	1,050	12	2.2	38
Alexandria City, Va.	93.8	-1.6	331	1,368	23	5.3	31
Arlington, Va.	163.1	-1.8	335	1,669	9	3.2	124
Chesapeake City, Va.	95.1	0.2	275	758	303	-0.7	331
Chesterfield, Va.	121.8	2	118	866	203	1.3	268
Fairfax, Va.	576.4	-1.5	330	1,580	11	1.2	275
Henrico, Va.	178.5	0.9	207	1,110	65	6.2	18
Loudoun, Va.	145.9	1.5	153	1,244	40	3.9	79
Newport News City, Va.	97.9	1.1	184	989	122	2.8	149
Norfolk City, Va.	134.2	-0.5	307	969	133	3.7	98
Prince William, Va.	116.3	0.6	238	832	237	-0.1	325
Richmond City, Va.	147.4	0.7	224	1,147	55	3.2	124
Virginia Beach City, Va.	167.2	0.5	253	769	297	1.5	252
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications. (5) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (6) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Virginia, first quarter 2014(2)

Area	Employment March 2014	Average weekly wage (3)
United States (4)	134,555,000	$1,027
Virginia	3,613,234	1050
Accomack	12,295	651
Albemarle	49,059	991
Alleghany	3,912	645
Amelia	2,259	603
Amherst	8,903	631
Appomattox	2,945	518
Arlington	163,121	1,669
Augusta	25,430	758
Bath	2,359	622
Bedford	15,460	652
Bland	1,967	825
Botetourt	10,023	699
Brunswick	3,937	595
Buchanan	7,490	897
Buckingham	3,161	644
Campbell	16,163	809
Caroline	5,319	685
Carroll	5,942	522
Charles City	1,474	702
Charlotte	2,767	546
Chesterfield	121,824	866
Clarke	4,128	712
Craig	649	642
Culpeper	15,296	729
Cumberland	1,280	529
Dickenson	3,815	752
Dinwiddie	7,834	759
Essex	4,063	594
Fairfax County	576,368	1,580
Fauquier	20,936	832
Floyd	2,864	530
Fluvanna	4,170	685
Franklin	14,033	574
Frederick	27,799	797
Giles	4,557	738
Gloucester	9,218	587
Goochland	12,524	1,902
Grayson	2,400	539
Greene	3,280	624
Greensville	4,332	643
Halifax	12,002	670
Hanover	47,163	733
Henrico	178,471	1110
Henry	14,682	584
Highland	548	480
Isle of Wight	10,389	837
James City	26,543	740
King and Queen	916	732
King George	10,631	1,504
King William	3,492	809
Lancaster	4,355	646
Lee	4,532	612
Loudoun	145,875	1,244
Louisa	8,282	913
Lunenburg	2,514	563
Madison	2,900	608
Mathews	1,458	507
Mecklenburg	11,396	578
Middlesex	3,081	601
Montgomery	40,928	750
Nelson	4,047	533
New Kent	3,770	647
Northampton	4,257	617
Northumberland	2,256	610
Nottoway	5,547	612
Orange	9,104	665
Page	4,997	545
Patrick	4,827	503
Pittsylvania	11,974	575
Powhatan	7,739	915
Prince Edward	8,231	633
Prince George	14,782	928
Prince William	116,334	832
Pulaski	13,236	723
Rappahannock	1,361	935
Richmond County	2,770	661
Roanoke County	35,285	717
Rockbridge	5,393	567
Rockingham	29,897	766
Russell	6,418	700
Scott	4,613	591
Shenandoah	13,376	618
Smyth	11,363	647
Southampton	3,540	618
Spotsylvania	32,165	699
Stafford	39,867	966
Surry	1,956	1,545
Sussex	3,621	696
Tazewell	15,671	615
Warren	12,285	757
Washington	20,169	724
Westmoreland	3,078	557
Wise	12,667	675
Wythe	11,336	587
York	20,443	684
Alexandria City	93,821	1,368
Bedford City	2,937	678
Bristol City	10,208	633
Buena Vista City	2,510	617
Charlottesville City	36,707	890
Chesapeake City	95,089	758
Colonial Heights City	10,597	529
Covington City	3,917	922
Danville City	26,067	633
Emporia City	3,413	527
Fairfax City	19,071	998
Falls Church City	10,808	1,196
Franklin City	4,266	617
Fredericksburg City	23,653	765
Galax City	5,925	560
Hampton City	54,182	840
Harrisonburg City	29,927	661
Hopewell City	7,987	945
Lexington City	4,812	718
Lynchburg City	50,379	833
Manassas City	22,749	1,165
Manassas Park City	2,793	837
Martinsville City	9,718	591
Newport News City	97,881	989
Norfolk City	134,196	969
Norton City	3,751	732
Petersburg City	12,802	776
Poquoson City	1,600	552
Portsmouth City	44,186	963
Radford City	5,814	814
Richmond City	147,431	1,147
Roanoke City	66,408	835
Salem City	21,911	899
Staunton City	10,974	606
Suffolk City	26,515	870
Virginia Beach City	167,153	769
Waynesboro City	9,588	701
Williamsburg City	12,711	698
Winchester City	24,373	828
Footnotes: (1) Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. (2) Data are preliminary. (3) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 3. Covered employment and wages by state, first quarter 2014

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (1)
	March 2014 (thousands)	Percent change, March 2013-14	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, first quarter 2013-14	National ranking by percent change
United States (2)	134,555.0	1.7	$1,027	--	3.8	--
Alabama	1,849.5	0.6	825	38	1.6	50
Alaska	319.1	0.3	1,023	15	3.5	17
Arizona	2,540.8	1.9	918	22	3.1	26
Arkansas	1,152.6	0.3	784	46	2.5	37
California	15,572.9	2.8	1,165	6	4.5	5
Colorado	2,370.1	3.1	1,046	13	4.2	9
Connecticut	1,627.2	0.5	1,362	3	3.3	24
Delaware	412.5	2.0	1,110	7	3.9	13
District of Columbia	727.3	1.2	1,701	1	5.3	3
Florida	7,752.4	2.9	868	28	3.0	28
Georgia	3,974.8	2.6	972	18	3.4	18
Hawaii	624.9	1.2	857	32	1.9	42
Idaho	631.5	3.3	722	50	3.9	13
Illinois	5,651.2	0.9	1,104	8	4.2	9
Indiana	2,842.5	1.2	845	35	1.7	48
Iowa	1,485.4	1.5	824	39	3.0	28
Kansas	1,343.0	1.7	840	36	4.1	11
Kentucky	1,784.1	1.1	811	40	2.7	33
Louisiana	1,909.8	1.2	868	28	2.6	35
Maine	565.9	0.7	786	45	1.9	42
Maryland	2,512.8	0.1	1,086	9	1.8	47
Massachusetts	3,272.2	1.3	1,300	4	5.3	3
Michigan	4,013.5	1.7	950	20	3.1	26
Minnesota	2,652.3	0.8	1,036	14	3.4	18
Mississippi	1,096.8	0.6	707	51	1.7	48
Missouri	2,634.6	1.0	866	31	2.9	30
Montana	429.9	0.7	730	49	3.3	24
Nebraska	930.7	1.7	797	42	2.6	35
Nevada	1,183.5	3.4	867	30	2.7	33
New Hampshire	614.2	1.3	970	19	3.4	18
New Jersey	3,794.3	0.6	1,263	5	2.2	38
New Mexico	787.0	0.2	793	43	1.9	42
New York	8,699.5	1.6	1,460	2	7.3	1
North Carolina	4,003.2	1.7	914	23	3.4	18
North Dakota	428.9	3.3	944	21	6.7	2
Ohio	5,071.5	1.3	909	24	2.8	32
Oklahoma	1,565.2	0.7	854	34	3.9	13
Oregon	1,688.5	2.8	893	25	3.4	18
Pennsylvania	5,560.9	0.3	1,007	16	4.1	11
Rhode Island	449.7	1.1	996	17	4.4	8
South Carolina	1,873.6	2.7	787	44	1.9	42
South Dakota	400.2	1.4	741	48	4.5	5
Tennessee	2,718.2	1.7	874	27	2.2	38
Texas	11,220.6	2.6	1,062	11	4.5	5
Utah	1,270.8	3.1	831	37	3.4	18
Vermont	301.1	0.5	807	41	1.9	42
Virginia	3,613.2	0.0	1,050	12	2.2	38
Washington	2,966.3	2.6	1,068	10	3.8	16
West Virginia	694.6	-0.9	779	47	1.4	51
Wisconsin	2,694.5	1.0	856	33	2.9	30
Wyoming	275.4	1.0	877	26	2.1	41
Puerto Rico	914.9	-1.8	521	(3)	1.4	(3)
Virgin Islands	38.3	-3.6	744	(3)	2.6	(3)
Footnotes: (1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data. (2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (3) Data not included in the national ranking.
NOTE: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.