Puerto Rico’s only large county, the municipio of San Juan, reported an employment gain of 2.0 percent from September 2011 to September 2012, 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 2011 annual average employment.) Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that in September 2012, San Juan’s employment level of 264,000 accounted for 28.3 percent of total employment in the Commonwealth.

In the United States, employment grew 1.6 percent over the year, as 276 of the 328 largest U.S. counties gained jobs. (See chart 1.) The 328 largest counties made up 71.0 percent of total U.S. employment.

The average weekly wage in San Juan was $601 in the third quarter of 2012, 0.5 percent lower than one year prior. By comparison, the U.S. weekly wage declined 1.1 percent over the year to $906. (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 $906. (See table 2.) Juncos, at $883, had the highest average weekly wage. Guaynabo, San Juan, and Barceloneta had weekly wages above $600. The four municipios with average weekly wages exceeding $600 were located on the northern and eastern parts of the island. Thirty-nine municipios had average weekly wages below $425, with roughly half of these low-wage municipios located in the western end of the island, including Las Marias ($298) and Florida ($296). (See chart 3.)

In the neighboring Virgin Islands, average weekly wages were also below the United States average. The highest average weekly wage among the three Virgin Island counties was $763 in St. Croix. Average weekly wages on St. Thomas were $681 and $653 on St. John, 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 38,609 jobs in September 2012 were on St. Thomas, and an additional 15,197 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 2011 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2012 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2011 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn11.htm. The 2012 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available later in 2013.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

County employment and wage data for the fourth quarter 2012 are scheduled to be released on Thursday, June 27, 2013.

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 9.2 million employer reports cover 132.6 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 2012(2)

Area	Employment		Average weekly wage(3)
	September 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2011-2012(4)	Average weekly wage	Percent change, third quarter 2011-2012(4)
United States(5)	132,624.7	1.6	$906	-1.1
Puerto Rico	933.4	2.1	506	0.0
San Juan	264.0	2.0	601	-0.5
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 2012(2)

Area	Employment September 2012 (thousands)	Average weekly wage(4)
United States	132,624.7	$ 906
Puerto Rico	933.4	506
Adjuntas	2.1	376
Aguada	4.7	334
Aguadilla	16.8	534
Aguas Buenas	2.0	401
Aibonito	5.2	457
Anasco	5.3	440
Arecibo	22.1	479
Arroyo	2.9	452
Barceloneta	10.1	611
Barranquitas	3.4	422
Bayamon	56.8	454
Cabo Rojo	6.1	345
Caguas	48.0	465
Camuy	3.6	369
Canovanas	6.4	468
Carolina	52.1	460
Catano	10.4	532
Cayey	10.7	507
Ceiba	1.3	422
Ciales	2.0	352
Cidra	5.6	515
Coamo	4.1	397
Comerio	2.1	375
Corozal	4.1	385
Culebra	0.5	321
Dorado	8.1	461
Fajardo	11.8	459
Florida	1.9	296
Guanica	2.3	349
Guayama	11.5	539
Guayanilla	2.5	465
Guaynabo	42.8	624
Gurabo	6.6	537
Hatillo	8.0	350
Hormigueros	2.5	342
Humacao	16.7	517
Isabela	6.4	422
Jayuya	3.0	446
Juana Diaz	6.5	448
Juncos	6.7	883
Lajas	3.1	328
Lares	5.0	320
Las Marias	1.9	298
Las Piedras	6.9	541
Loiza	1.6	416
Luquillo	2.4	491
Manati	14.5	526
Maricao	1.4	363
Maunabo	1.6	519
Mayaguez	33.4	440
Moca	3.9	344
Morovis	2.6	368
Naguabo	1.9	403
Naranjito	3.0	400
Orocovis	3.3	336
Patillas	1.8	428
Penuelas	3.0	434
Ponce	50.5	447
Quebradillas	2.3	396
Rincon	1.7	348
Rio Grande	5.8	420
Sabana Grande	3.1	373
Salinas	4.6	454
San German	8.8	418
San Juan	264.0	601
San Lorenzo	4.9	460
San Sebastian	5.1	356
Santa Isabel	5.1	400
Toa Alta	3.5	383
Toa Baja	13.1	458
Trujillo Alto	11.0	350
Utuado	4.0	430
Vega Alta	4.6	426
Vega Baja	8.0	498
Vieques	1.6	401
Villalba	3.4	518
Yabucoa	3.3	403
Yauco	6.4	379
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 2012 (2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage (3)
	September 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, September 2011-2012	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, third quarter 2011-2012	National ranking by percent change
United States (4)	132,624.7	1.6	$906	--	-1.1	--
Alabama	1,833.5	0.6	784	33	-2.4	45
Alaska	343.6	0.6	961	9	-0.2	7
Arizona	2,437.5	2.2	846	22	-2.0	43
Arkansas	1,156.7	0.3	708	47	-1.0	17
California	15,109.1	2.8	1,036	6	-1.2	21
Colorado	2,284.6	2.2	936	12	-1.3	25
Connecticut	1,638.9	0.8	1,087	4	-2.8	49
Delaware	407.3	0.1	925	14	-2.5	47
District of Columbia	714.9	0.6	1,514	1	-0.7	15
Florida	7,307.9	1.9	800	31	-1.4	27
Georgia	3,841.2	1.1	854	21	-1.5	31
Hawaii	605.5	1.7	827	26	-1.0	17
Idaho	630.4	1.1	687	49	-1.4	27
Illinois	5,688.6	1.1	945	11	-1.4	27
Indiana	2,849.9	1.8	772	35	-1.7	36
Iowa	1,486.7	1.1	756	41	-0.5	10
Kansas	1,325.5	1.0	761	39	-1.4	27
Kentucky	1,779.5	1.2	751	42	-1.7	36
Louisiana	1,864.3	0.3	805	30	-1.8	38
Maine	597.0	0.2	722	46	-1.6	34
Maryland	2,533.3	1.4	1,007	8	-1.6	34
Massachusetts	3,271.6	1.2	1,102	2	-1.2	21
Michigan	3,984.2	1.5	862	19	-1.5	31
Minnesota	2,675.4	1.1	915	15	0.0	4
Mississippi	1,089.4	0.6	672	51	-1.2	21
Missouri	2,628.8	0.7	793	32	-1.2	21
Montana	441.6	1.8	689	48	0.3	3
Nebraska	924.4	2.0	742	43	-0.5	10
Nevada	1,140.1	1.5	820	27	-3.0	50
New Hampshire	620.6	1.1	874	17	-3.1	51
New Jersey	3,811.2	1.1	1,053	5	-1.8	38
New Mexico	788.7	0.0	761	39	-2.3	44
New York	8,616.8	1.2	1,088	3	-1.1	19
North Carolina	3,934.1	1.6	806	29	-0.2	7
North Dakota	422.2	7.8	872	18	6.3	1
Ohio	5,073.0	1.1	828	24	-0.7	15
Oklahoma	1,545.6	1.3	779	34	-0.5	10
Oregon	1,667.3	1.2	834	23	0.0	4
Pennsylvania	5,598.4	0.6	899	16	-1.3	25
Rhode Island	460.5	0.8	855	20	-1.9	42
South Carolina	1,814.7	1.3	738	44	-1.1	19
South Dakota	405.3	1.6	683	50	-0.1	6
Tennessee	2,674.3	1.7	814	28	-0.6	14
Texas	10,773.4	2.7	930	13	-0.2	7
Utah	1,231.0	3.3	766	37	-1.8	38
Vermont	302.0	1.2	763	38	-1.8	38
Virginia	3,631.1	0.9	960	10	-1.5	31
Washington	2,944.6	1.5	1,024	7	1.3	2
West Virginia	715.4	0.5	724	45	-2.4	45
Wisconsin	2,718.7	0.7	770	36	-2.7	48
Wyoming	284.7	0.0	828	24	-0.5	10
Puerto Rico	933.4	2.1	506	(5)	0.0	(5)
Virgin Islands	38.6	-9.8	711	(5)	-1.1	(5)
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. (5) Data not included in the national ranking.