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News Release Information

15-906-CHI
Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Occupational Employment and Wages in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills — May 2014

Workers in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.04 in May 2014, similar to the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 2 of the 22 major occupational groups: construction and extraction; and sales and related. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including life, physical, and social science; computer and mathematical; and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including production; architecture and engineering; and sales and related. Conversely, 11 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including education, training, and library; transportation and material moving; and construction and extraction. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, and measures of statistical significance, May 2014
Major occupational group Percent of total employment Mean hourly wage
United States Warren United States Warren Percent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0% 100.0% $22.71 $23.04 1

Management

5.0 5.2* 54.08 53.92 0

Business and financial operations

5.1 5.3 34.81 33.59* -4

Computer and mathematical

2.8 3.2* 40.37 36.03* -11

Architecture and engineering

1.8 4.4* 39.19 38.88 -1

Life, physical, and social science

0.8 0.4* 33.69 28.43* -16

Community and social services

1.4 0.9* 21.79 22.45 3

Legal

0.8 0.9* 48.61 47.17 -3

Education, training, and library

6.2 4.3* 25.10 25.45 1

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.3 1.3 26.82 25.15* -6

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.8 5.6 36.54 37.69 3

Healthcare support

2.9 3.3* 13.86 13.30* -4

Protective service

2.4 1.6* 21.14 19.53* -8

Food preparation and serving related

9.1 8.7* 10.57 10.34* -2

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.2 2.7* 12.68 12.55 -1

Personal care and service

3.1 2.6* 12.01 11.61* -3

Sales and related

10.5 11.5* 18.59 19.71* 6

Office and administrative support

16.0 15.4* 17.08 16.67* -2

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.3 (2) 12.09 13.89 15

Construction and extraction

3.9 2.9* 22.40 24.35* 9

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.9 3.6* 21.74 21.46 -1

Production

6.6 11.1* 17.06 17.17 1

Transportation and material moving

6.8 5.1* 16.57 15.78* -5

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Warren is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
(2) Estimate not released.
* 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.
 

One occupational group—production—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills had 126,800 jobs in production, accounting for 11.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $17.17, compared to the national wage of $17.06.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the production group included team assemblers (29,360), machinists (9,460), and inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers (8,230). Among the higher paying jobs were power plant operators and gas plant operators, with mean hourly wages of $35.61 and $33.45, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pressers, textile, garment, and related materials ($9.72) and laundry and dry-cleaning workers ($9.91). (Detailed occupational data for production are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_47664.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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the production group. For instance, model makers, metal and plastic were employed at 10.2 times the national rate in Warren, and forging machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic, at 10.1 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, bakers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Warren, 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 Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

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. May 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division included 5,856 establishments with a response rate of 75 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 2014 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 Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich. Metropolitan Division  includes Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/midwest. 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/2014/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: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills Metropolitan Division, May 2014
Occupation (1) Employment Mean wages
Level (2) Location quotient (3) Hourly Annual (4)

Production Occupations

126,800 1.7 $17.17 $35,720

First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers

6,530 1.3 29.84 62,060

Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers

110 0.9 16.86 35,070

Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers

1,970 1.1 13.86 28,820

Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers

120 0.3 16.46 34,230

Engine and Other Machine Assemblers

960 3.0 24.74 51,450

Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters

540 0.8 18.18 37,820

Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators

90 0.6 14.95 31,090

Team Assemblers

29,360 3.1 15.71 32,670

Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other

4,340 2.2 12.75 26,530

Bakers

1,480 1.0 13.53 28,150

Butchers and Meat Cutters

1,030 0.9 14.46 30,080

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

550 0.4 11.07 23,030

Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders

40 0.2 13.85 28,800

Food Batchmakers

500 0.5 12.72 26,460

Computer-Controlled Machine Tool Operators, Metal and Plastic

2,950 2.4 19.49 40,530

Computer Numerically Controlled Machine Tool Programmers, Metal and Plastic

520 2.5 23.19 48,230

Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,070 1.8 15.69 32,640

Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,830 10.1 12.92 26,870

Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

5,800 3.6 15.78 32,820

Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

240 1.7 19.58 40,720

Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,110 1.9 16.42 34,140

Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

790 2.2 17.62 36,660

Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

420 2.3 19.12 39,770

Machinists

9,460 2.9 20.18 41,980

Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

100 0.6 12.66 26,340

Model Makers, Metal and Plastic

530 10.2 26.38 54,880

Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic

(5) (5) 20.94 43,550

Foundry Mold and Coremakers

90 0.9 15.05 31,310

Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

3,710 3.4 13.54 28,160

Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

1,150 1.4 16.85 35,040

Tool and Die Makers

4,700 7.3 25.44 52,910

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

3,060 1.0 18.40 38,270

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

690 1.5 15.07 31,340

Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

770 4.3 15.61 32,470

Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic

50 0.4 22.04 45,850

Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

610 2.0 13.39 27,850

Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners

270 3.0 19.81 41,200

Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other

330 1.8 15.83 32,920

Prepress Technicians and Workers

250 0.8 17.12 35,610

Printing Press Operators

990 0.7 15.73 32,710

Print Binding and Finishing Workers

330 0.8 15.04 31,280

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers

1,300 0.8 9.91 20,620

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials

240 0.6 9.72 20,220

Sewing Machine Operators

1,010 0.8 12.83 26,680

Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers

(5) (5) 13.60 28,300

Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers

(5) (5) 14.10 29,320

Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

50 0.4 15.63 32,510

Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

50 0.3 12.18 25,330

Upholsterers

(5) (5) 14.80 30,770

Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other

(5) (5) 17.59 36,590

Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters

490 0.7 16.44 34,200

Furniture Finishers

50 0.4 15.86 32,990

Patternmakers, Wood

(5) (5) 21.45 44,620

Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing

270 0.5 12.43 25,850

Power Plant Operators

240 0.7 35.61 74,060

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators

90 0.3 28.85 60,010

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

350 0.4 23.78 49,450

Chemical Plant and System Operators

80 0.2 (5) (5)

Gas Plant Operators

140 1.0 33.45 69,570

Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers

(5) (5) 24.22 50,380

Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

360 0.7 19.64 40,860

Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

210 0.6 18.40 38,270

Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

60 0.3 16.76 34,860

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

320 1.3 13.18 27,410

Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

1,300 1.3 16.07 33,430

Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

530 1.0 15.34 31,910

Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

610 1.1 12.96 26,960

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

8,230 2.0 17.32 36,030

Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers

320 1.7 18.14 37,720

Dental Laboratory Technicians

560 1.9 20.57 42,780

Medical Appliance Technicians

60 0.5 21.62 44,970

Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians

700 3.0 17.06 35,490

Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders

(5) (5) 12.72 26,460

Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

1,790 2.3 12.88 26,800

Painters, Transportation Equipment

380 0.9 28.41 59,090

Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers

190 1.4 14.16 29,460

Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators

130 0.5 11.37 23,640

Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders

(5) (5) 10.73 22,310

Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders

90 0.6 14.87 30,940

Etchers and Engravers

(5) (5) 15.37 31,970

Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic

570 1.9 15.18 31,580

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

440 0.6 19.18 39,900

Helpers--Production Workers

6,590 1.9 13.65 28,390

Production Workers, All Other

3,850 2.1 16.44 34,190

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/tables.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 14, 2015