Workers in the Scranton—Wilkes-Barre—Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.24 in May 2019, about 17 percent below the nationwide average of $25.72, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that, after testing for statistical significance, no wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 22 major occupational groups. Nineteen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Scranton area employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving, production, and office and administrative support. Conversely, twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including business and financial operations, management, and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Scranton had 22,600 jobs in production, accounting for 8.7 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $18.28, significantly below the national wage of $19.30.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the production group included miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators (4,550); paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders (1,680); and packaging and filling machine operators and tenders (1,520). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of production and operating workers and dental laboratory technicians, with mean hourly wages of $28.26 and $26.84, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($10.71) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($12.07). (Detailed data for the production occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_42540.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 than it does nationally. In the Scranton area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders were employed at 9.5 times the national rate in Scranton, and extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 6.2 times the U.S. average. Sewing machine operators had a location quotient of 1.0 in Scranton, 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.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OES survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 200,000 sampled establishments are contacted, one panel in May and the other in November. Responses are obtained by mail, Internet or other electronic means, email, telephone, or personal visit. The May 2019 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, November 2017, May 2017, and November 2016. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 71 percent based on establishments and 68 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Scranton—Wilkes-Barre—Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,312 establishments with a response rate of 65 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

The May 2019 OES estimates are the first set of OES estimates to be based in part on survey data collected using the 2018 SOC. These estimates use a hybrid of the 2010 and 2018 SOC systems. More information on the hybrid classification system is available at www.bls.gov/oes/soc_2018.htm.

The May 2019 OES estimates are based on the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). More information about the 2017 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Metropolitan 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 Scranton—Wilkes-Barre—Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming Counties.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OES program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for production occupations, Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2019

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Production occupations	22,600	1.4	$18.28	$38,020
First-line supervisors of production and operating workers	1,400	1.3	28.26	58,790
Electrical, electronic, and electromechanical assemblers, except coil winders, tapers, and finishers	100	0.2	17.47	36,330
Structural metal fabricators and fitters	(5)	(5)	22.83	47,480
Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators	4,550	1.9	15.26	31,740
Bakers	520	1.6	13.03	27,110
Butchers and meat cutters	230	0.9	14.50	30,150
Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers	100	0.4	11.78	24,510
Slaughterers and meat packers	100	0.8	15.88	33,020
Food batchmakers	650	2.3	17.32	36,020
Food processing workers, all other	40	0.6	15.18	31,580
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	840	6.2	18.76	39,010
Cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	700	2.0	19.20	39,930
Grinding, lapping, polishing, and buffing machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	130	1.0	16.01	33,310
Lathe and turning machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	3.1	16.35	34,020
Machinists	480	0.7	21.59	44,910
Molding, coremaking, and casting machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	550	1.8	17.72	36,860
Multiple machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	640	2.5	16.42	34,150
Tool and die makers	80	0.6	23.37	48,620
Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers	480	0.7	20.87	43,410
Welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	1.0	19.44	40,430
Plating machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic	150	2.1	18.48	38,450
Metal workers and plastic workers, all other	90	2.1	21.31	44,320
Prepress technicians and workers	50	1.0	20.70	43,050
Printing press operators	580	1.9	19.76	41,100
Print binding and finishing workers	140	1.8	17.18	35,730
Laundry and dry-cleaning workers	530	1.4	12.07	25,100
Pressers, textile, garment, and related materials	110	1.6	10.71	22,280
Sewing machine operators	230	1.0	12.85	26,730
Tailors, dressmakers, and custom sewers	(5)	(5)	10.32	21,460
Textile cutting machine setters, operators, and tenders	(5)	(5)	15.49	32,210
Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters	100	0.6	17.19	35,750
Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing	40	0.3	16.81	34,970
Stationary engineers and boiler operators	70	1.3	25.32	52,660
Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators	250	1.2	21.39	44,490
Chemical equipment operators and tenders	190	1.2	16.62	34,580
Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders	180	2.0	25.29	52,600
Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders	60	1.1	18.66	38,800
Grinding and polishing workers, hand	40	0.7	17.07	35,500
Mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders	180	0.8	17.95	37,340
Cutting and slicing machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	1.1	15.29	31,810
Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders	110	0.9	16.75	34,850
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers	1,160	1.1	18.29	38,030
Dental laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	26.84	55,820
Ophthalmic laboratory technicians	(5)	(5)	17.42	36,240
Packaging and filling machine operators and tenders	1,520	2.2	17.65	36,720
Coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders	150	0.6	14.58	30,320
Computer numerically controlled tool operators	410	1.5	18.07	37,590
Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic	(5)	(5)	14.91	31,010
Paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders	1,680	9.5	21.63	44,990
Helpers--production workers	810	1.5	13.28	27,630
Production workers, all other	130	0.3	15.00	31,210
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_42540.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are 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.