Puerto Rico’s only large county, the municipio of San Juan, reported an employment loss of 2.9 percent from September 2012 to September 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.) Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that in September 2013, San Juan’s employment level of 255,000 accounted for 28.0 percent of total employment in the commonwealth.

In the United States, employment grew 1.7 percent over the year, as 286 of the 334 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. (See chart 1.) The 334 largest counties made up 71.4 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in San Juan was $598 in the third quarter of 2013, 0.3 percent lower than a year ago. By comparison, the U.S. weekly wage increased 1.9 percent over the year to $922. (See table 1 and chart 2.)

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 77 municipios in Puerto Rico with employment below 75,000. All 77 had wages below the U.S. average of $922. (See table 2.) Juncos, at $871, had the highest average weekly wage. Guaynabo and Barceloneta had weekly wages above $600. The three municipios with average weekly wages exceeding $600 were located on the northern and eastern parts of the island. Thirty-five municipios had average weekly wages below $400, with roughly half of these low-wage municipios located in the western end of the island, including Aguada, Lares (each at $326), and Las Marias ($310). (See chart 3.)

In the neighboring Virgin Islands, average weekly wages were also below the U.S. average. The highest average weekly wage among the three Virgin Island counties was $718 in St. Thomas. Average weekly wages on St. Croix and St. John were $698 and $645, respectively, well above wage averages in most of Puerto Rico’s municipios.

Though employment on each island was below 25,000, more than half of the territory’s 37,900 jobs in September 2013 were on St. Thomas, and an additional 14,600 were on St. Croix.

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 wage 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. The 2012 edition of this publication, which was published in September 2013, 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/cewbultn12.htm. The 2013 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available 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.

County employment and wage data for the fourth quarter 2012 are scheduled to be released on Thursday, June 19, 2014.

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 9.3 million employer reports cover 135.0 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, Puerto Rico, and San Juan, third quarter 2013 (2)

Area	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2012-13 (4)	Average weekly wage	Percent change, third quarter 2012-13 (4)
United States (5)	134,957.5	1.7	$922	1.9
Puerto Rico	910.9	-2.5	501	-0.6
San Juan	255.0	-2.9	598	-0.3
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) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Table 2. Covered (1) employment and wages in the United States and all counties in Puerto Rico, third quarter 2013 (2)

Area	Employment September 2013 (thousands)	Average weekly wage(3)
United States(4)	134,957.50	$922
Puerto Rico	910.9	501
Adjuntas	1.9	351
Aguada	4.4	326
Aguadilla	17	520
Aguas Buenas	1.8	396
Aibonito	5.4	461
Anasco	5.3	455
Arecibo	21.9	475
Arroyo	2.5	481
Barceloneta	9.6	615
Barranquitas	3.4	405
Bayamon	56	451
Cabo Rojo	5.5	333
Caguas	46.3	457
Camuy	3.6	351
Canovanas	6.4	431
Carolina	51.3	444
Catano	10.3	565
Cayey	10.4	518
Ceiba	1.2	398
Ciales	1.7	378
Cidra	5.9	499
Coamo	4	392
Comerio	2.1	362
Corozal	4.3	360
Culebra	0.4	339
Dorado	7.6	465
Fajardo	11.5	458
Florida	1.3	390
Guanica	2.2	344
Guayama	10.7	527
Guayanilla	2.6	412
Guaynabo	45.4	613
Gurabo	6.5	553
Hatillo	8.1	355
Hormigueros	2.4	337
Humacao	16.8	523
Isabela	6.6	418
Jayuya	2.7	467
Juana Diaz	6.6	423
Juncos	6.6	871
Lajas	2.6	330
Lares	3.6	326
Las Marias	1.2	310
Las Piedras	6.5	567
Loiza	1.6	404
Luquillo	1.8	411
Manati	13.7	484
Maricao	1.3	396
Maunabo	1.7	512
Mayaguez	31.3	439
Moca	3.7	341
Morovis	2.6	359
Naguabo	1.9	398
Naranjito	2.8	377
Orocovis	3.2	337
Patillas	1.8	385
Penuelas	2.9	437
Ponce	50.8	433
Quebradillas	2.2	371
Rincon	1.6	342
Rio Grande	6	416
Sabana Grande	2.7	362
Salinas	4	447
San German	9	424
San Juan	255	598
San Lorenzo	4.3	499
San Sebastian	5.2	340
Santa Isabel	5.2	387
Toa Alta	3.5	364
Toa Baja	13.4	429
Trujillo Alto	11.1	329
Utuado	3.8	424
Vega Alta	4.5	402
Vega Baja	8	488
Vieques	1.6	397
Villalba	3.1	559
Yabucoa	3	388
Yauco	6.5	349
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

Table 3. Covered (1) employment and wages by state, third quarter 2013 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2013 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2012-13	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, third quarter 2012-13	National ranking by percent change (4)
United States (5)	134,957.5	1.7	$922	--	1.9	--
Alabama	1,847.6	0.8	794	34	1.3	43
Alaska	345.0	0.4	990	9	3.0	7
Arizona	2,490.9	2.2	859	22	1.5	36
Arkansas	1,156.5	0.1	723	47	2.1	21
California	15,526.4	2.7	1,057	6	2.1	21
Colorado	2,355.7	3.1	952	12	1.7	31
Connecticut	1,650.3	0.7	1,109	3	1.9	28
Delaware	416.8	2.1	941	14	2.1	21
District of Columbia	726.2	1.5	1,560	1	3.0	7
Florida	7,501.8	2.6	808	31	1.1	46
Georgia	3,928.2	2.3	867	21	1.5	36
Hawaii	617.7	1.7	839	25	1.6	33
Idaho	644.7	2.3	703	50	2.3	19
Illinois	5,731.7	0.7	959	11	1.5	36
Indiana	2,883.6	1.2	784	38	1.6	33
Iowa	1,512.0	1.5	772	40	2.1	21
Kansas	1,347.6	1.8	776	39	2.0	26
Kentucky	1,794.5	1.0	760	43	1.1	46
Louisiana	1,893.4	1.4	827	28	2.9	10
Maine	601.5	0.7	735	46	1.8	30
Maryland	2,546.4	0.6	1,011	8	0.4	51
Massachusetts	3,318.3	1.2	1,131	2	2.6	11
Michigan	4,069.7	2.1	875	20	1.5	36
Minnesota	2,724.2	1.7	938	15	2.6	11
Mississippi	1,099.1	0.8	688	51	2.5	15
Missouri	2,661.0	1.3	805	32	1.4	40
Montana	446.7	1.2	705	49	2.3	19
Nebraska	937.5	1.3	766	41	3.4	3
Nevada	1,169.4	2.5	836	27	2.0	26
New Hampshire	624.5	0.6	895	18	2.4	17
New Jersey	3,851.9	1.2	1,068	5	1.3	43
New Mexico	793.7	0.5	766	41	0.7	49
New York	8,724.8	1.3	1,108	4	1.7	31
North Carolina	4,006.4	1.7	817	30	1.4	40
North Dakota	436.7	3.4	921	16	5.5	1
Ohio	5,147.5	1.4	837	26	1.2	45
Oklahoma	1,572.6	1.4	797	33	2.4	17
Oregon	1,709.8	2.4	856	23	2.6	11
Pennsylvania	5,622.4	0.3	913	17	1.6	33
Rhode Island	465.2	1.3	878	19	2.6	11
South Carolina	1,859.3	2.3	751	44	1.9	28
South Dakota	408.9	0.9	706	48	3.4	3
Tennessee	2,712.8	1.5	819	29	0.6	50
Texas	11,091.9	2.8	952	12	2.5	15
Utah	1,265.5	2.9	791	36	3.1	6
Vermont	302.5	0.0	788	37	3.4	3
Virginia	3,650.1	0.6	971	10	1.1	46
Washington	3,017.9	2.4	1,044	7	2.1	21
West Virginia	710.3	-0.7	751	44	3.7	2
Wisconsin	2,752.7	1.1	793	35	3.0	7
Wyoming	286.1	0.2	840	24	1.4	40
Puerto Rico	910.9	-2.5	501	(6)	-0.6	(6)
Virgin Islands	37.9	-1.9	706	(6)	-0.6	(6)
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) Ranking does not include Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (5) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands. (6) Data not included in the national ranking.