Employment rose in 13 of the 19 largest counties in Pennsylvania 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.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Lancaster County’s 1.8-percent rate of employment gain was the fastest in Pennsylvania and was ranked 137th among the 339 largest counties nationwide. Delaware County followed with an increase of 1.2 percent, ranking 177th among the nation’s large counties. Westmoreland County recorded the largest employment decline among Pennsylvania’s large counties, down 0.7 percent. Four other counties posted smaller rates of employment declines over the year, while employment in Luzerne County was unchanged.

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 19 largest counties in Pennsylvania, employment was highest in Allegheny County (674,500) in March 2014. One other county, Philadelphia, had employment above 600,000. Together, Pennsylvania’s large counties accounted for 76.6 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 Chester County rose 13.9 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014—the fastest wage increase among Pennsylvania’s largest counties and ranked first in wage growth among the large counties nationwide. Washington was the only other large Pennsylvania county to rank in the top 10 nationally for wage growth, placing ninth with a 7.3-percent increase. All other Pennsylvania large counties had wage increases ranging from 5.5 percent in Delaware to 0.1 percent in Erie. Chester County also had the highest average weekly wage among the 19 largest counties in the Commonwealth at $1,415, followed by the counties of Montgomery ($1,346) and Philadelphia ($1,187). (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 48 counties in Pennsylvania with employment below 75,000. Forty-six of these smaller counties had weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Seven of Pennsylvania’s 19 large counties recorded over-the-year wage increases larger than the national advance of 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Wage growth in all of these counties ranked in the top 25 percent among the 339 large counties nationwide.

Of the 339 largest counties nationwide, 323 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. As noted, Pennsylvania’s Chester County 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.

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

The average weekly wage in one of Pennsylvania’s large counties, Chester, ranked 18th in the nation; Montgomery and Philadelphia also ranked in the top 50 nationwide. In addition to these three counties, Allegheny, Delaware, Washington, and Dauphin Counties also had wages above the U.S. average of $1,027.
In five other large counties in the Commonwealth, the average weekly wages placed in the bottom fourth of the national ranking—Lancaster, Luzerne, Westmoreland, Erie, and Lackawanna. Wages in these counties were more than 20 percent below the national average for the first quarter of 2014.

Average weekly wages in Pennsylvania’s smaller counties

Forty-six of the 48 counties in Pennsylvania with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $1,027. The exceptions were Montour and Greene counties at $1,197 and $1,078, respectively. Perry reported the lowest weekly wage among the smaller counties as well as the Commonwealth as a whole, averaging $568 in the first quarter of 2014. (See table 2.)

When all 67 counties in Pennsylvania were considered, 58 had wages below the national average of $1,027. Twenty-two reported wages below $700, 32 had wages from $701 to $900, 7 had wages from $901 to $1,100, and 6 had wages above $1,100. (See chart 1.) Four of the nine counties that recorded above-average wages were concentrated in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, and two were located in the Pittsburgh 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 2013 edition of this publication is now available and contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2014 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2013 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2013/home.htm.

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.

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.