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News Release Information

22-2192-NEW
Thursday, November 17, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (617) 565-4141

County Employment and Wages in New York City — First Quarter 2022

Manhattan’s employment up 8.8 percent over the year in March 2022

Employment increased in all five New York City boroughs from March 2021 to March 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner William J. Sibley noted that in New York County—commonly known as Manhattan—the over-the-year employment gain of 8.8 percent ranked 6th among the nation’s 355 largest counties, those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2021. Among the other boroughs, employment increases ranged from 7.2 percent in Brooklyn (Kings County) to 3.1 percent in the Bronx (Bronx County) (See chart 1 and table 1.)

National employment increased 5.0 percent over the year, with 349 of the 355 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. Clark, NV, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment with a gain of 12.5 percent. Jefferson, LA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment with a loss of 0.8 percent.

Among the five New York City boroughs, employment was highest in Manhattan (2,315,800) in March 2022. Within Manhattan’s private industry, 8 of the 9 supersectors with at least 1,000 employees had over-the-year job gains. Leisure and hospitality had the largest gain (+68.1 percent). By contrast, construction experienced an over-the-year loss (-1.0 percent). (See table 2.)

Nationally, all supersectors reported over-the-year employment gains. The largest employment increase occurred in leisure and hospitality (+16.8 percent). The next largest changes were in information (+7.7 percent) and other services (+7.0 percent).

Over-the-year wage changes

All five boroughs of New York City had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Queens County ranked 275th among the nation’s largest counties with a gain of 4.7 percent. Staten Island (Richmond County) ranked 284th and posted a 4.4-percent gain, while the Bronx, in 288th place, posted a 4.3-percent gain. Brooklyn (+3.7 percent) and Manhattan (+2.5 percent) placed in the bottom quarter of the large county rankings. (See chart 2.)

Among the 355 largest counties in the United States, 348 had over-the-year wage increases. Peoria, IL, had the largest percentage wage increase (+25.8 percent). San Francisco, CA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease (-9.1 percent).

Average weekly wages

Manhattan’s average weekly wage of $4,064 ranked first in the nation. The Manhattan wage was nearly three times the national average of $1,374 in the first quarter of 2022. Weekly wages in the four other New York City boroughs had averages ranging from $1,199 in Queens to $1,055 in Brooklyn. (See chart 3.)

In Manhattan, the financial activities supersector had the highest first-quarter average weekly wage, $12,190. (See table 2.) Manhattan’s leisure and hospitality supersector had the lowest average weekly wage, $1,082. Average wages in every supersector were higher in Manhattan than their respective national averages.

Among the largest U.S. counties, 87 reported average weekly wages above the U.S. average in the first quarter of 2022. Average weekly wages were below the national average in the remaining 268 counties. At $736 a week, Cameron, TX, had the lowest average weekly wage.

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 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. This publication is typically published in September of the following year of the reference period or shortly after the QCEW first quarter full data update. The Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online is available at www.bls.gov/cew/publications/employment-and-wages-annual-averages/.

The County Employment and Wages release for second quarter 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 22, 2022. The County Employment and Wages full data update for second quarter 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.

Changes to QCEW with First Quarter 2022 Release

County Changes for the 2022 County Employment and Wages News Releases

Counties with annual average employment of 75,000 or more in 2021 are included in this release and will be included in future 2022 releases. Nationally, twelve counties have been added to the publication tables. No counties were dropped from the publication tables.

Industry Changes to QCEW Data

Beginning with the full release of first quarter 2022 data on September 7, 2022, the QCEW program will use the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as the basis for the publication of economic data by industry. For information on the use of the 2022 version of NAICS in QCEW, please see https://www.bls.gov/cew/classifications/industry/naics-2022.htm


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 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.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Covered establishments, employment, and wages in the United States and the five counties of New York City, first quarter 2022
AreaEstablishments,
first quarter
(thousands)
EmploymentAverage weekly wage (1)
March 2022
(thousands)
Percent change,
March
2021–22 (2)
National ranking
by percent change (3)
First quarter
2022
National ranking
by level (3)
Percent change,
first quarter
2021–22 (2)
National ranking
by percent change (3)

United States (4)

11,299.0147,648.45.0--$1,374--6.7--

New York State

681.39,107.26.0--1,97225.644

Bronx

20.2313.83.12281,1861654.3288

Kings

70.3810.07.2241,0552553.7301

New York

128.32,315.88.864,06412.5329

Queens

56.2683.56.4451,1991574.7275

Richmond

10.5130.76.1561,1311974.4284

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

Table 2. Covered employment and wages in the United States and New York County, first quarter 2022
AreaEstablishments, first quarter 2022EmploymentAverage weekly wage(1)
March 2022 (thousands)Percent change March 2021-22(2)First quarter 2022Percent change, first quarter 2021-22(2)

United States(3)

11,299.0147,648.45.0$1,3746.7

Private industry

10,996.2126,152.45.71,3986.9

Natural resources and mining

142.11,682.32.71,35912.1

Construction

889.97,417.43.71,3085.6

Manufacturing

376.412,632.43.21,5607.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities

2,003.928,042.64.41,11510.6

Information

246.92,981.37.73,083-0.6

Financial activities

1,018.18,485.72.72,9537.6

Professional and business services

2,236.722,105.56.21,8667.5

Education and health services

1,965.723,126.22.11,0957.0

Leisure and hospitality

922.015,032.716.854014.9

Other services

856.74,296.67.08855.7

Government

302.821,495.91.31,2334.5

New York, NY

128.32,315.88.84,0642.5

Private industry

126.92,091.89.84,3111.6

Natural resources and mining

0.00.2-1.93,28719.7

Construction

2.436.1-1.02,2326.2

Manufacturing

1.716.515.61,9404.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

16.9211.09.01,9996.8

Information

5.7197.17.84,337-0.9

Financial activities

19.0380.51.712,1907.7

Professional and business services

28.0560.25.73,4966.7

Education and health services

10.2359.23.31,6226.6

Leisure and hospitality

14.0228.768.11,0826.2

Other services

18.191.76.61,5301.7

Government

1.5224.00.51,7709.6

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.
(3) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Note: Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs. Data are preliminary.

Table 3. Covered establishments, employment, and wages by state, first quarter 2022
StateEstablishments,
first quarter
(thousands)
EmploymentAverage weekly wage (1)
March 2022
(thousands)
Percent change,
March
2021–22
First quarter
2022
National ranking
by level
Percent change,
first quarter
2021–22
National ranking
by percent change

United States (2)

11,299.0147,648.45.0$1,374--6.7--

Alabama

143.71,990.42.51,072398.221

Alaska

24.2303.92.81,178254.945

Arizona

195.83,048.25.01,234217.529

Arkansas

98.31,232.73.11,0604010.92

California

1,667.617,720.87.71,64451.051

Colorado

238.02,767.95.11,45598.811

Connecticut

135.71,618.64.31,71649.26

Delaware

38.1447.83.91,362147.529

District of Columbia

46.9749.15.82,22112.649

Florida

844.09,249.26.11,2222310.83

Georgia

359.64,615.25.01,301178.811

Hawaii

50.4612.17.91,135304.247

Idaho

83.6806.44.7982498.518

Illinois

403.85,808.84.51,48787.333

Indiana

183.03,071.13.71,127329.85

Iowa

108.21,511.62.51,080367.627

Kansas

93.11,369.82.51,073389.010

Kentucky

137.51,911.54.01,038447.627

Louisiana

147.61,820.61.31,058428.616

Maine

60.4604.12.81,1033510.34

Maryland

179.92,623.13.91,410102.050

Massachusetts

286.63,516.05.31,82735.943

Michigan

282.24,212.54.61,225226.241

Minnesota

194.12,772.62.71,374116.837

Mississippi

77.91,134.22.9879518.518

Missouri

227.12,788.23.01,128317.034

Montana

57.5479.93.1991488.320

Nebraska

78.7965.41.51,079379.26

Nevada

102.71,441.311.61,164278.023

New Hampshire

61.1659.94.31,361157.825

New Jersey

317.94,085.17.21,60664.646

New Mexico

68.0817.45.11,018456.540

New York

681.39,107.26.01,97225.644

North Carolina

335.84,638.34.81,241209.26

North Dakota

33.3400.52.71,106346.935

Ohio

320.55,299.03.11,179247.529

Oklahoma

120.71,601.82.91,012468.023

Oregon

175.11,921.94.01,259187.432

Pennsylvania

384.05,778.24.31,309166.935

Rhode Island

45.0469.34.71,249196.837

South Carolina

164.12,142.93.91,043439.26

South Dakota

37.8432.03.51,012468.616

Tennessee

198.13,104.14.61,172268.811

Texas

788.412,985.46.11,369128.714

Utah

126.51,625.64.51,152288.221

Vermont

29.3295.83.91,107337.726

Virginia

310.83,889.43.11,366136.639

Washington

277.33,453.46.01,59673.848

West Virginia

55.2668.12.9968506.142

Wisconsin

193.92,816.52.91,137298.714

Wyoming

28.9263.62.61,0594111.21

Puerto Rico

48.7917.16.8579(3)2.8(3)

Virgin Islands

3.534.8-0.3947(3)-3.7(3)

Footnotes:
(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
(3) Data not included in the national ranking.

Note: Data are preliminary. Covered employment and wages includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, November 17, 2022