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News Release Information

14-1245-PHI
Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Occupational Employment and Wages in Lancaster – May 2013

Workers in the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.30 in May 2013, 14 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly lower than their respective national averages in 14 of the 22 major occupational groups, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. Only two groups had hourly wages that were significantly higher than their respective national averages—production and farming, fishing, and forestry. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

 

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesLancasterUnited StatesLancasterPercent difference(1)

Total, all occupations

100.0
100.0
$22.33
$19.30*
-14

Management

4.9
3.2*
53.15
48.64*
-8

Business and financial operations

5.0
3.5*
34.14
29.65*
-13

Computer and mathematical

2.8
1.2*
39.43
31.67*
-20

Architecture and engineering

1.8
1.7
38.51
33.72*
-12

Life, physical, and social science

0.9
0.4*
33.37
29.95*
-10

Community and social service

1.4
1.3
21.50
18.31*
-15

Legal

0.8
0.3*
47.89
35.93*
-25

Education, training, and library

6.3
5.2*
24.76
22.69*
-8

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3
1.4
26.72
18.70*
-30

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.8
5.5
35.93
34.12
-5

Healthcare support

3.0
3.6*
13.61
13.64
0

Protective service

2.5
1.0*
20.92
21.77
4

Food preparation and serving related

9.0
9.1
10.38
10.41
0

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.2
2.9*
12.51
12.22
-2

Personal care and service

3.0
2.9
11.88
11.94
1

Sales and related

10.6
11.9*
18.37
16.72*
-9

Office and administrative support

16.2
15*
16.78
15.94*
-5

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3
0.3
11.70
13.23*
13

Construction and extraction

3.8
5.4*
21.94
20.15*
-8

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9
4.0
21.35
20.41*
-4

Production

6.6
10.7*
16.79
17.15*
2

Transportation and material moving

6.8
9.2*
16.28
15.00*
-8
* 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.

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Lancaster is above the national mean wage, while a negative percent difference reflects a lower wage.
 

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Lancaster employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups including production, transportation and material moving, and sales and related. Conversely, nine groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included management, business and financial operations, and protective service.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Lancaster had 23,690 jobs in production, accounting for 10.7 percent of local area employment, significantly larger than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.15, measurably above the national wage of $16.79.

With employment of 2,280, team assemblers was the largest occupation within the production group, followed by production helpers, with 1,710 jobs. Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and food batchmakers, with mean hourly wages of $26.32 and $20.00, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were bakers ($11.85) and production helpers ($13.85). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29540.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 as it does nationally. In the Lancaster area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, food batchmakers were employed at over four-and-a-half times the national rate in Lancaster, and printing press operators, at nearly four times the U.S. average. On the other hand, machinists had a location quotient of 1.2 in Lancaster, 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 Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Note

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

NOTE: A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.


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 Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,383 establishments with a response rate of 77 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 Lancaster, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic. 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, Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013
Occupation(1)EmploymentMean wage
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual(4)

Production occupations

23,6901.6$17.15$35,670

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,6701.726.3254,740

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

4101.213.9729,060

Electromechancial equipment assemblers

(5)(5)13.9028,910

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

5003.917.8937,220

Team assemblers

2,2801.314.5530,250

Assemblers and fabricators, all other

2900.715.3932,010

Bakers

4401.611.8524,650

Butchers and meat cutters

2701.214.4430,040

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

1400.512.6726,350

Slaughterers and meat packers

3002.114.1329,400

Food batchmakers

8404.620.0041,600

Food cooking machine operators and tenders

2003.512.1325,220

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

3201.417.8437,120

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

601.622.9247,660

Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

3102.518.2537,950

Rolling machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2103.820.2142,040

Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

6902.217.2635,900

Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

902.614.3829,910

Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

2001.718.7438,970

Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1001.417.6636,730

Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

(5)(5)23.8749,660

Machinists

7501.118.5438,560

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

1002.718.5638,600

Pourers and casters, metal

905.320.2142,040

Patternmakers, metal and plastic

506.819.9841,550

Foundry mold and coremakers

502.415.5232,280

Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

(5)(5)15.7432,740

Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1701.117.6936,790

Tool and die makers

2101.621.3544,410

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

1,1401.918.1337,700

Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders

901.115.6832,620

Heat treating equipment setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1403.818.6038,690

Plating and coating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic

1702.817.4136,220

Metal workers and plastic workers, all others

701.818.1737,790

Prepress technicians and workers

1502.419.1039,740

Printing press operators

1,0803.918.9139,330

Print binding and finishing workers

6207.216.6034,540

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

3401.011.1023,080

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

500.612.7626,550

Sewing machine operators

1900.813.3127,690

Upholsterers

1302.716.9335,220

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

3702.618.3638,190

Furniture finishers

803.417.1535,670

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

1502.114.8930,970

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

3002.716.0933,460

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

300.525.9553,980

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

3902.121.2044,100

Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders

300.519.8141,200

Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1202.316.1733,630

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

500.916.4334,180

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

2701.415.6132,460

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1701.714.9931,170

Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders

1401.217.3136,010

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

1,0301.317.6836,770

Dental laboratory technicians

500.815.2131,630

Medical appliance technicians

703.014.6630,500

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

901.813.7928,690

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

8601.416.1533,600

Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders

2902.015.5132,260

Painters, transportation equipment

901.122.1746,120

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

1001.613.0627,160

Cleaning, washing, and metal pickling equipment operators and tenders

1003.514.6630,490

Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders

(5)(5)14.5530,250

Etchers and engravers

(5)(5)16.1033,480

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

2304.117.3736,130

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

2201.415.8132,890

Helpers--production workers

1,7102.413.8528,800

Production workers, all other

2100.615.0931,390

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Lancaster MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_29540.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 01, 2014