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News Release Information

17-800-ATL
Friday, June 23, 2017

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Occupational Employment and Wages in Jackson – May 2016

Workers in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $20.10 in May 2016, about 16 percent below the nationwide average of $23.86, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 20 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; life, physical, and social science; and computer and mathematical.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 7 of the 22 occupational groups, including healthcare practitioners and technical; management; and protective service. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical; construction and extraction; and business and financial operations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2016
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesJacksonUnited StatesJacksonPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0100.0$23.86$20.10*-16

Management

5.16.1*56.7440.66*-28

Business and financial operations

5.24.2*36.0929.36*-19

Computer and mathematical

3.01.6*42.2532.46*-23

Architecture and engineering

1.81.3*40.5333.30*-18

Life, physical, and social science

0.80.7*35.0626.72*-24

Community and social service

1.41.422.6918.86*-17

Legal

0.80.9*50.9544.31*-13

Education, training, and library

6.26.226.2123.69-10

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.41.1*28.0721.88*-22

Healthcare practitioners and technical

5.98.3*38.0631.50*-17

Healthcare support

2.93.1*14.6511.81*-19

Protective service

2.43.4*22.0315.19*-31

Food preparation and serving related

9.28.6*11.4710.11*-12

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.23.213.4710.70*-21

Personal care and service

3.24.1*12.7410.70*-16

Sales and related

10.410.319.5017.03*-13

Office and administrative support

15.715.317.9116.05*-10

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.2*13.3712.17-9

Construction and extraction

4.02.7*23.5118.50*-21

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.94.2*22.4520.25*-10

Production

6.56.317.8815.95*-11

Transportation and material moving

6.96.817.3416.56*-4

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
* 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—healthcare practitioners and technical—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Jackson had 21,690 jobs in healthcare practitioners and technical, accounting for 8.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.9-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.50, significantly below the national wage of $38.06.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group included registered nurses (8,510), licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses (2,220), and pharmacy technicians (770). Among the higher paying jobs were general pediatricians and family and general practitioners, with mean hourly wages of $126.31 and $100.54, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were dietetic technicians ($11.13) and veterinary technologists and technicians ($14.53). (Detailed occupational data for healthcare practitioners and technical are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27140.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 Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the healthcare practitioners and technical group. For instance, nurse practitioners were employed at 2.3 times the national rate in Jackson, and medical and clinical laboratory technologists, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, pharmacy technicians had a location quotient of 1.0 in Jackson, 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 Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

Note on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

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. The OES data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 650 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), metropolitan divisions, nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-, 4-, 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.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 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 2016 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2016, November 2015, May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, and November 2013. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 73 percent based on establishments and 69 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 58 percent of total national employment. The sample in the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,307 establishments with a response rate of 65 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2016 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.

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 Jackson, Miss. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Copiah, Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Simpson and Yazoo Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/southeast. 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/current/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, Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2016
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

21,6901.4$31.50$65,510

Chiropractors

300.5(5)(5)

Dentists, general

2501.375.89157,850

Dietitians and nutritionists

1501.324.9951,970

Optometrists

300.542.5488,480

Pharmacists

7401.357.50119,610

Family and general practitioners

1700.7100.54209,120

Pediatricians, general

(5)(5)126.31262,720

Psychiatrists

300.7109.83228,440

Surgeons

801.1119.94249,470

Physicians and surgeons, all other

8801.4(5)(5)

Physician assistants

400.231.0064,490

Occupational therapists

3601.736.8376,610

Physical therapists

5901.541.0785,420

Radiation therapists

401.341.2285,730

Recreational therapists

1103.317.6136,620

Respiratory therapists

4802.025.1552,310

Speech-language pathologists

3301.333.4869,640

Veterinarians

1000.835.2673,340

Registered nurses

8,5101.630.1462,690

Nurse practitioners

6302.346.7697,260

Audiologists

301.540.8584,960

Medical and clinical laboratory technologists

5601.829.5161,370

Medical and clinical laboratory technicians

3501.217.8837,190

Dental hygienists

3200.827.8457,900

Cardiovascular technologists and technicians

1401.417.8637,150

Diagnostic medical sonographers

1501.230.7263,890

Nuclear medicine technologists

501.532.8968,400

Radiologic technologists

5401.523.6249,130

Magnetic resonance imaging technologists

2002.927.4757,130

Emergency medical technicians and paramedics

4501.015.5432,320

Dietetic technicians

(5)(5)11.1323,150

Pharmacy technicians

7701.014.7130,600

Psychiatric technicians

600.613.4928,060

Surgical technologists

4802.419.3040,150

Veterinary technologists and technicians

(5)(5)14.5330,220

Ophthalmic medical technicians

1401.717.5536,500

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

2,2201.718.1437,730

Medical records and health information technicians

5301.417.5336,460

Opticians, dispensing

600.415.3832,000

Orthotists and prosthetists

403.035.2573,330

Health technologists and technicians, all other

1500.716.8735,100

Occupational health and safety specialists

1300.940.0083,190

Athletic trainers

501.2(6)48,730

Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other

701.019.6540,860

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Jackson, MS Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_27140.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.
(6) Wages for some occupations that do not generally work year-round, full time, are reported as hourly wages or annual salaries depending on how they are typically paid.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, June 23, 2017