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News Release Information

14-849-SAN
Thursday, May 15, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Occupational Employment and Wages in Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, May 2013

Workers in the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.96 in May 2013, about 2 percent below the nationwide average of $22.33, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were significantly higher than their respective national averages in 3 of the 22 major occupational groups: healthcare support, healthcare practitioners and technical, and food preparation and serving related. Eleven groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including life, physical, and social science; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and business and financial operations.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support, sales and related, and construction and extraction. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; education, training, and library; and transportation and material moving. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, and measures of statistical significance, May 2013
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesPhoenixUnited StatesPhoenixPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$22.33$21.96*-2

Management

4.95.5*53.1549.82*-6

Business and financial operations

5.05.2*34.1430.81*-10

Computer and mathematical

2.83.4*39.4337.58*-5

Architecture and engineering

1.82.2*38.5136.78*-4

Life, physical, and social science

0.90.5*33.3728.89*-13

Community and social services

1.41.421.5020.51*-5

Legal

0.80.747.8948.702

Education, training, and library

6.35.4*24.7622.11*-11

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

1.31.226.7223.32*-13

Healthcare practitioner and technical

5.85.3*35.9337.20*4

Healthcare support

3.02.7*13.6114.94*10

Protective service

2.52.7*20.9220.60-2

Food preparation and serving related

9.09.110.3810.82*4

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

3.23.1*12.5111.53*-8

Personal care and service

3.03.2*11.8812.001

Sales and related

10.611.8*18.3718.370

Office and administrative support

16.217.6*16.7816.800

Farming, fishing, and forestry

0.30.1*11.7010.57*-10

Construction and extraction

3.84.4*21.9419.79*-10

Installation, maintenance, and repair

3.93.821.3521.581

Production

6.64.4*16.7916.56-1

Transportation and material moving

6.86.1*16.2817.095

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Phoenix 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—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale had 313,670 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 17.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 16.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $16.80, compared to the national wage of $16.78.

Some of the largest detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (51,440), general office clerks (32,940), and secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (28,610). Among the higher paying jobs were postal service mail carriers and postal service clerks, with mean hourly wages of $25.01 and $24.92, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($11.04) and tellers ($12.48). (Detailed occupational data for office and administrative support are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2013/may/oes_38060.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 Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, above average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, loan interviewers and clerks were employed at 2.5 times the national rate in Phoenix, and bill and account collectors, at 1.9 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, had a location quotient of 1.0 in Phoenix, 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 Arizona Department of Commerce.

Note

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Phoenix metropolitan statistical area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria.

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 for a 3-year period. May 2013 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected in May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, November 2011, May 2011, and November 2010. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 75.3 percent based on establishments and 71.6 percent based on employment. The sample in the Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area included 7,181 establishments with a response rate of 76 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 2013 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. Metropolitan Statistical Area  includes Maricopa and Pinal Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west/home.htm. 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/2013/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: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale Metropolitan Statistical Area, May 2013
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual(4)

Office and Administrative Support Occupations

313,6701.1$16.80$34,930

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

25,9601.423.9349,770

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

1,1400.712.9126,850

Telephone Operators

1000.713.1027,240

Bill and Account Collectors

9,3201.916.4234,160

Billing and Posting Clerks

7,8901.216.9235,200

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

17,6200.817.5536,500

Gaming Cage Workers

3501.512.6526,300

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks

1,9400.917.7136,830

Procurement Clerks

1,0801.218.1337,700

Tellers

4,5800.712.4825,960

Financial Clerks, All Other

2,0003.619.0539,620

Brokerage Clerks

1,6402.023.6149,110

Correspondence Clerks

1601.519.3740,280

Court, Municipal, and License Clerks

2,1001.216.6434,610

Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks

1,4402.117.9437,310

Customer Service Representatives

51,4401.615.6232,490

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs

7300.418.2137,870

File Clerks

2,1001.014.5930,350

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

2,5100.811.0422,970

Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan

2,1400.812.7426,500

Library Assistants, Clerical

7800.612.6926,390

Loan Interviewers and Clerks

7,0302.518.6138,720

New Accounts Clerks

9701.318.4938,460

Order Clerks

3,6101.314.2829,710

Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping

1,6100.917.5836,570

Receptionists and Information Clerks

11,1700.913.4427,950

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

2,3801.318.2637,970

Information and Record Clerks, All Other

3,0901.317.6136,620

Cargo and Freight Agents

2000.220.9143,490

Couriers and Messengers

5800.613.0827,200

Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers

1,1500.921.8045,340

Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance

3,4001.415.1731,540

Meter Readers, Utilities

3300.623.4148,690

Postal Service Clerks

5500.624.9251,830

Postal Service Mail Carriers

3,4300.825.0152,030

Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

1,4300.923.4548,780

Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks

5,0301.321.0343,740

Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks

8,7101.014.7930,760

Stock Clerks and Order Fillers

23,6101.012.5426,080

Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping

8400.914.5030,150

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

6,2300.624.1650,240

Legal Secretaries

2,5200.920.3442,300

Medical Secretaries

12,8301.915.1831,560

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

28,6101.016.4334,170

Computer Operators

1,4001.617.4736,340

Data Entry Keyers

3,2501.214.0629,250

Word Processors and Typists

4700.415.1831,570

Desktop Publishers

1200.620.7943,240

Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks

4,0801.316.8034,930

Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

1,7901.313.3027,660

Office Clerks, General

32,9400.916.0733,430

Office Machine Operators, Except Computer

1,0801.213.8228,750

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

600.416.6634,640

Statistical Assistants

2601.220.0741,750

Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other

1,8500.615.2731,760

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_38060.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.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, May 15, 2014