Workers in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $23.68 in May 2020, about 13 percent below the nationwide average of $27.07, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Michael Hirniak noted that, after testing for statistical significance, production was the only major occupational group with wages in the local area higher than its respective national average. Seventeen groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including protective service, computer and mathematical, and business and financial operations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Baton Rouge area employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including construction and extraction, educational instruction and library, and protective service. Twelve groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including computer and mathematical, office and administrative support, and business and financial operations. (See table A.)

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Baton Rouge had 32,780 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 8.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 4.3-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $24.53, significantly below the national wage of $25.93.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included construction laborers (4,900), first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (4,210), and carpenters (3,930). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers and also boilermakers, with mean hourly wages of $32.17 and $32.01, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were pipelayers ($16.16) and construction laborers ($17.93). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_12940.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 Baton Rouge area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, boilermakers were employed at 14.3 times the national rate in Baton Rouge, and floor, ceiling, and wall insulation workers, at 12.5 times the U.S. average. Cement masons and concrete finishers had a location quotient of 0.4 in Baton Rouge, indicating that this particular occupation’s local employment share was lower than the national employment share.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels, and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

The OEWS survey is a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support, while the State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data. OEWS estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.1 million establishments. Each year, two semiannual panels of approximately 180,000 to 185,000 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 2020 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2020, November 2019, May 2019, November 2018, May 2018, and November 2017. The unweighted sample employment of 83 million across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 56 percent of total national employment. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 69 percent based on establishments and 66 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,905 establishments with a response rate of 68 percent. For more information about OEWS concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm.

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.

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 Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana Parishes.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed information about the OEWS program is available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_doc.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.