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News Release Information

14-1275-PHI
Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Occupational Employment and Wages in Reading – May 2013

Workers in the Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.70 in May 2013, 7 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 8 of the 22 major occupational groups, including arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; computer and mathematical; and business and financial operations. Only one group had an hourly wage that was significantly higher than its respective national average—production. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

 

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

Total, all occupations

100.0
100.0
$22.33
$20.70*
-7

Management

4.9
3.3*
53.15
54.44
2

Business and financial operations

5.0
3.8*
34.14
30.96*
-9

Computer and mathematical

2.8
1.5*
39.43
33.48*
-15

Architecture and engineering

1.8
1.6*
38.51
37.74
-2

Life, physical, and social science

0.9
0.4*
33.37
26.41*
-21

Community and social service

1.4
1.9*
21.50
20.16*
-6

Legal

0.8
0.5*
47.89
46.51
-3

Education, training, and library

6.3
6.8
24.76
25.60
3

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3
0.9*
26.72
18.75*
-30

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.8
6.2
35.93
33.23*
-8

Healthcare support

3.0
3.5*
13.61
13.34
-2

Protective service

2.5
1.4*
20.92
19.35
-8

Food preparation and serving related

9.0
8.3*
10.38
10.14*
-2

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.2
2.8*
12.51
12.81
2

Personal care and service

3.0
2.7
11.88
11.43
-4

Sales and related

10.6
10.2
18.37
17.29*
-6

Office and administrative support

16.2
15.3*
16.78
16.51
-2

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3
0.1*
11.70
13.12
12

Construction and extraction

3.8
3.5*
21.94
22.51
3

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9
4.7*
21.35
21.07
-1

Production

6.6
12.7*
16.79
18.15*
8

Transportation and material moving

6.8
7.8*
16.28
16.51
1
* 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 Reading is above the national mean wage, while a negative percent difference reflects a lower wage.
 

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Reading employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; transportation and material moving; and installation, maintenance, and repair. Conversely, 13 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; these groups included management, computer and mathematical, and business and financial operations.

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Reading had 21,020 jobs in production, accounting for 12.7 percent of local area employment, nearly twice the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.15, 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 metal and plastic multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders (1,780) and first-line supervisors of production and operating workers (1,310). Among the higher-paying jobs were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and metal and plastic multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, with mean hourly wages of $26.63 and $21.46, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($10.24) and bakers ($12.34). (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_39740.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 Reading area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, metal and plastic multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders were employed at over 15 times the national rate in Reading, and metal and plastic molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders at over 6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers had a location quotient of 1.2 in Reading, 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 Reading 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 Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,007 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 Reading, Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Berks 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, Reading Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013
Occupation(1)Employment(2)Mean wage
LevelLocation quotient(3)HourlyAnnual(4)

Production occupations

21,0201.9$18.15$37,760

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

1,3101.826.6355,390

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers

3001.213.9529,020

Engine and other machine assemblers

500.916.7834,900

Structural metal fabricators and fitters

3403.520.4442,510

Team assemblers

2,2801.716.9735,290

Assemblers and fabricators, all other

1200.413.8828,860

Bakers

3001.512.3425,660

Butchers and meat cutters

(5)(5)13.7728,630

Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers

(5)(5)14.2129,550

Food batchmakers

2501.814.9331,060

Food cooking machine operators

400.913.0627,160

Computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal and plastic

4102.419.5240,600

Computer numerically controlled machine tool programmers, metal and plastic

(5)(5)27.4557,090

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

2803.118.5138,500

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

(5)(5)13.9328,980

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

4101.717.7937,010

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

3103.515.3831,990

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

1001.819.0039,520

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

802.520.2842,190

Machinists

7301.519.0439,820

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

2208.022.6747,150

Pourers and casters, metal

15011.516.0133,300

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

9706.218.6338,750

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

1,78015.321.4644,630

Tool and die makers

1501.520.5542,740

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

9202.120.3542,340

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

301.217.8037,030

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

1603.518.9339,370

Metal workers and plastic workers, all others

2007.2(5)(5)

Prepress technicians and workers

(5)(5)16.2833,870

Printing press operators

2501.218.2137,880

Print binding and finishing workers

500.817.1135,580

Laundry and dry-cleaning workers

2000.810.2421,300

Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials

701.111.3723,650

Sewing machine operators

4402.513.1627,380

Sewers, hand

(5)(5)12.8026,630

Textile bleaching and dying machine setters, operators, and tenders

302.116.6534,620

Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders

603.014.1129,350

Textile knitting and weaving machine setters, operators, and tenders

903.4(5)(5)

Fabric and apparel patternmakers

304.214.1629,440

Upholsterers

(5)(5)16.7534,840

Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters

2102.117.4736,340

Furniture finishers

402.016.2333,750

Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood

801.515.8833,040

Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing

800.914.6630,490

Power plant operators

400.931.1064,680

Stationary engineers and boiler operators

(5)(5)21.6645,050

Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators

1200.922.2446,250

Chemical equipment operators and tenders

2203.018.2637,970

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

601.218.6138,710

Grinding and polishing workers, hand

(5)(5)13.2227,510

Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders

1901.313.7928,690

Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders

1702.316.9135,160

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

1401.620.2742,160

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

6901.219.7641,110

Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers

(5)(5)23.6949,270

Dental laboratory technicians

901.915.4532,130

Metal appliance technicians

905.416.9835,320

Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders

6101.313.3827,830

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

1301.217.7136,840

Painters, transportation equipment

801.320.8043,270

Photographic process workers and processing machine operators

1002.210.6222,090

Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic

(5)(5)14.9331,060

Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders

1401.216.9935,330

Helpers--production workers

1,0502.014.3929,930

Production workers, all other

(5)(5)12.4525,890

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Reading MSA, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_39740.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) Estimate not released.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2014