South Dakota’s only large county, Minnehaha, reported employment growth of 1.8 percent from June 2012 to June 2013, 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 2012 annual average employment.) Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that in June 2013, Minnehaha County’s employment level of 120,100 accounted for 28.8 percent of total employment within the state.

Nationally, employment rose 1.6 percent during this 12-month period, as 288 of the 334 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. Nationwide, the 334 largest counties made up 71.4 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 135.1 million in June 2013.

The average weekly wage in Minnehaha County was $772 in the second quarter of 2013, 1.2 percent higher than one year ago. (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 2.1 percent over the year to $921 in the second quarter of 2013.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000. All 65 of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Minnehaha County’s 1.2-percent wage growth from the second quarter of 2012 to the second quarter of 2013 ranked 227th nationally. (See table 1.) Among the 334 largest counties in the nation, 304 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2013. Union, N.J., had the largest wage increase among the largest U.S. counties (8.1 percent). Davidson, Tenn., had the largest average weekly wage decrease with a loss of 2.2 percent.

Large county average weekly wages

Minnehaha County’s $772 average wage placed in the bottom quartile among the 334 large counties, ranking 252nd. Nationally, Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,810. New York, N.Y., was second at $1,675, followed by San Mateo, Calif. ($1,632) and Washington, D.C. ($1,575).

Average weekly wages in South Dakota's smaller counties

All 65 counties in South Dakota with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages lower than the national average of $921. Among these smaller counties, Union County had the highest average weekly wage at $805 and Mellette County had the lowest at $406. (See table 2.)

When all 66 counties in South Dakota were considered, none had wages above the national average of $921. Five reported average weekly wages under $500, 18 had wages from $500 to $549, 14 reported wages from $550 to $599, 14 reported wages from $600 to $649, and 15 had wages of $650 or more. (See chart 1.)

Additional statistics and other information

Quarterly 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 contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2013 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2012 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/2012/home.htm. The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in September 2014.

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.

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 9.2 million employer reports cover 135.1 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 largest county in South Dakota, second quarter 2013 (2)

Area	Employment			Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2012-13 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level (5)	Percent change, second quarter 2012-13 (4)	National ranking by percent change (5)
United States (6)	135,094.0	1.6	--	$921	--	2.1	--
South Dakota	417.0	1.0	--	689	50	1.8	30
Minnehaha, S.D.	120.1	1.8	131.0	772	252	1.2	227
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 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, second quarter 2013 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	June 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2012-13	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2012-13	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	135,094.0	1.6	$921	--	2.1	--
Alabama	1,859.5	0.9	794	35	1.4	44
Alaska	342.6	-0.1	970	9	1.6	37
Arizona	2,438.1	1.8	877	20	1.7	32
Arkansas	1,150.4	-0.6	734	46	2.4	10
California	15,485.8	2.4	1,048	6	2.0	21
Colorado	2,359.4	2.9	933	14	1.6	37
Connecticut	1,666.3	1.0	1,128	3	1.5	41
Delaware	417.8	1.8	966	12	2.0	21
District of Columbia	725.0	0.9	1,575	1	2.1	19
Florida	7,402.0	2.4	822	29	2.0	21
Georgia	3,917.2	1.7	867	22	2.2	17
Hawaii	617.0	1.9	823	28	1.6	37
Idaho	642.7	2.7	683	51	1.9	28
Illinois	5,750.0	0.8	971	8	1.9	28
Indiana	2,863.4	1.1	776	42	1.7	32
Iowa	1,523.9	1.3	757	43	2.0	21
Kansas	1,350.0	1.2	779	41	2.1	19
Kentucky	1,790.6	0.6	782	38	1.3	46
Louisiana	1,894.7	0.9	824	27	2.4	10
Maine	604.4	0.4	732	47	1.8	30
Maryland	2,570.3	0.9	1,005	7	1.4	44
Massachusetts	3,352.7	1.3	1,131	2	2.0	21
Michigan	4,073.7	2.2	875	21	2.0	21
Minnesota	2,745.2	1.9	929	15	2.4	10
Mississippi	1,094.9	0.7	691	49	1.5	41
Missouri	2,668.2	1.2	803	33	1.6	37
Montana	448.4	1.5	717	48	2.4	10
Nebraska	941.0	0.9	737	45	2.6	7
Nevada	1,168.3	2.3	829	26	1.7	32
New Hampshire	629.1	0.8	916	17	2.9	4
New Jersey	3,917.5	1.0	1,084	5	2.6	7
New Mexico	795.0	0.4	781	39	-0.3	51
New York	8,804.9	1.1	1,118	4	2.0	21
North Carolina	3,985.1	1.7	808	31	2.5	9
North Dakota	433.7	3.2	887	18	3.7	1
Ohio	5,162.3	1.1	830	25	1.7	32
Oklahoma	1,560.7	0.9	794	35	3.5	2
Oregon	1,708.0	2.5	848	23	1.3	46
Pennsylvania	5,665.9	0.3	918	16	2.8	5
Rhode Island	465.5	1.0	880	19	2.3	16
South Carolina	1,864.9	1.8	747	44	1.5	41
South Dakota	417.0	1.0	689	50	1.8	30
Tennessee	2,709.3	1.5	820	30	0.5	49
Texas	11,078.8	2.7	944	13	2.4	10
Utah	1,259.7	2.8	783	37	2.2	17
Vermont	303.1	0.3	808	31	2.7	6
Virginia	3,685.4	0.7	968	11	1.7	32
Washington	3,013.3	2.2	969	10	2.4	10
West Virginia	713.1	-0.1	781	39	0.6	48
Wisconsin	2,768.2	0.6	801	34	3.0	3
Wyoming	290.4	0.4	845	24	0.5	49
Puerto Rico	926.1	-1.1	503	(5)	1.0	(5)
Virgin Islands	38.9	-3.0	706	(5)	-13.8	(5)
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. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.