County Employment and Wages in Maryland – Second Quarter 2012

Anne Arundel County Employment Gain Ranks in Top Ten Percent Nationwide

Employment rose in seven of the eight large counties in Maryland from June 2011 to June 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.) Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that Anne Arundel County recorded the largest employment gain, up 3.6 percent over the year. Harford and Howard Counties followed with gains of 3.2 and 2.7 percent, respectively. The smallest employment increase was recorded in Baltimore City, up 0.1 percent since June 2011. Employment in Prince George’s County was unchanged over the year; no county had an employment decline from June 2011 to June 2012.

Nationally, employment grew 1.8 percent during this 12-month period, as 287 of the 328 large counties gained jobs. Yakima County, Wash., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 8.2 percent over the year. Madison, Ill., St. Clair, Ill., and Clay, Mo., experienced the largest over-the-year decreases in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with losses of 2.0 percent each.

Among the eight largest counties in Maryland, employment was highest in Montgomery County (455,800) in June 2012. Three other counties—Baltimore, Baltimore City, and Prince George’s—had employment levels exceeding 300,000. Together, Maryland’s large counties accounted for 80.0 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 328 largest counties made up 70.9 percent of total U.S. employment.

Harford County recorded the fastest over-the-year wage growth among Maryland’s eight large counties, rising 2.8 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012. Frederick and Howard Counties followed closely with average weekly wage gains of 2.7 percent each. Montgomery County reported the highest average weekly wage among the state’s large counties at $1,222. Two other counties had weekly wages above $1,000—Howard ($1,106) and Baltimore City ($1,020). (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 1.3 percent over the year to $903 in the second quarter of 2012.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 16 counties in Maryland with employment below 75,000. Fifteen of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Four of Maryland’s eight large counties recorded wage increases larger than the national advance of 1.3 percent from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012. The wage advances in three of these counties ranked in the top one-fourth among the 328 largest counties in the U.S., with Harford County placing 61st and Frederick and Howard Counties tied at 66th. Montgomery County posted a wage gain slightly below that of the nation, while the remaining three large counties in Maryland had wage declines over the year. (See table 1.)

Among the 328 largest counties nationwide, 233 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Washington, Ore., had the largest wage gain, up 8.5 percent from the second quarter of 2011. Washington, Pa., was second with 7.8-percent growth, followed by McLean, Ill. (7.2 percent), and San Mateo, Calif. (7.1 percent).

Eighty-six large counties in the U.S. experienced over-the-year declines in average weekly wages, led by Williamson, Texas, with a loss of 17.0 percent over the year. Kitsap, Wash. (-4.2 percent), had the second-largest weekly wage decline among the large counties, followed by Arlington, Va. (-3.8 percent), Durham, N.C. (-3.6 percent), and Benton, Wash. (-3.4 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in 7 of Maryland’s 8 large counties were above the U.S. average of $903; these 7 counties all placed in the top 100 among the 328 largest counties in the United States in the second quarter of 2012. Three of these counties—Montgomery, Howard, and Baltimore City—ranked in the top 50 nationwide, placing 15th, 31st, and 49th, respectively. The average weekly wage in Maryland’s other large county, Frederick, also placed in the top half of the national ranking, at 121st.

Average wages in Maryland’s smaller counties

Fifteen of the 16 counties in Maryland with employment under 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average. The exception was St. Mary’s with an average wage of $1,139. Worcester County reported the lowest weekly wage in the state, averaging $526 in the second quarter of 2012. (See table 2.)

When all 24 counties in Maryland were considered, 16, or two-thirds, had wages below the national average of $903. Seven of these reported average weekly wages below $700. (See chart 1.) Of the eight counties with wages above the national average, three (Montgomery, St. Mary’s, and Howard) had average weekly wages above $1,100. Five of the eight counties with above-average wages were concentrated in the Baltimore metropolitan area, while two were located in the Washington metropolitan area. Five of the seven lower-paid counties, those with wages below $700, were located on the Delmarva Peninsula.

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 wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at 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; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

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 132.9 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 and the 8 largest counties in Maryland, second quarter 2012(2)

Area	Employment			Average Weekly Wage(3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12(4)	National ranking by percent change(5)	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level(5)	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12(4)	National ranking by percent change(5)
United States(6)	132,896.0	1.8	--	$903	--	1.3	--
Maryland	2,550.2	1.5	--	992	7	0.7	39
Anne Arundel, Md.	242.4	3.6	27	958	76	-0.8	285
Baltimore, Md.	366.1	1.1	204	917	98	1.8	111
Baltimore City, Md.	329.9	0.1	280	1,020	49	-1.4	302
Frederick, Md.	94.2	0.5	253	889	121	2.7	66
Harford, Md.	88.2	3.2	44	917	98	2.8	61
Howard, Md.	162.0	2.7	72	1,106	31	2.7	66
Montgomery, Md.	455.8	1.4	176	1,222	15	1.2	153
Prince George's, Md.	302.6	0.0	288	979	62	-0.4	262
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) Ranking does not include the county of San Juan, Puerto Rico. (6) 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 of the counties in Maryland, second quarter 2012(2)

Area	Employment June 2012 (thousands)	Average weekly wage(3)
United States(4)	132,896.0	$903
Maryland	2,550.2	992
Allegany	29.5	640
Anne Arundel	242.4	958
Baltimore County	366.1	917
Baltimore City	329.9	1,020
Calvert	22.0	775
Caroline	9.0	661
Carroll	56.1	705
Cecil	29.6	783
Charles	41.3	767
Dorchester	11.4	651
Frederick	94.2	889
Garrett	11.9	582
Harford	88.2	917
Howard	162.0	1,106
Kent	8.2	670
Montgomery	455.8	1,222
Prince George's	302.6	979
Queen Anne's	14.2	652
St. Mary's	42.6	1,139
Somerset	6.7	716
Talbot	18.7	715
Washington	67.7	705
Wicomico	44.8	703
Worcester	29.8	526
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, second quarter 2012(2)

State	Employment		Average weekly wage(3)
	June 2012 (thousands)	Percent change, June 2011-12	Average weekly wage	National ranking by level	Percent change, second quarter 2011-12	National ranking by percent change
United States(4)	132,896.0	1.8	903	--	1.3	--
Alabama	1,841.7	0.9	783	34	2.0	20
Alaska	342.9	2.1	955	8	1.5	29
Arizona	2,393.9	2.6	862	18	2.1	17
Arkansas	1,157.4	1.1	717	47	2.1	17
California	15,045.8	2.4	1,034	6	1.8	24
Colorado	2,291.8	2.5	918	14	2.0	20
Connecticut	1,650.0	1.2	1,111	2	-0.4	50
Delaware	409.3	0.2	948	11	2.4	13
District of Columbia	717.9	0.9	1,544	1	0.3	44
Florida	7,233.7	2.0	805	30	0.4	42
Georgia	3,854.7	1.4	848	22	1.9	22
Hawaii	603.7	2.1	812	28	1.8	24
Idaho	626.1	1.5	673	51	0.9	38
Illinois	5,698.0	1.1	953	9	1.6	27
Indiana	2,832.6	2.3	763	41	1.9	22
Iowa	1,502.7	1.5	743	43	2.5	12
Kansas	1,334.4	1.7	763	41	1.1	35
Kentucky	1,780.7	1.6	772	38	1.6	27
Louisiana	1,877.2	1.6	806	29	1.5	29
Maine	601.8	1.2	719	45	1.0	37
Maryland	2,550.2	1.5	992	7	0.7	39
Massachusetts	3,301.5	1.9	1,109	3	-1.2	51
Michigan	3,984.0	2.1	859	19	1.7	26
Minnesota	2,695.1	1.5	907	15	1.1	35
Mississippi	1,087.4	0.6	681	49	2.9	3
Missouri	2,629.1	0.4	791	32	2.2	15
Montana	442.0	2.0	700	48	2.6	8
Nebraska	930.9	2.0	719	45	0.7	39
Nevada	1,141.7	1.6	815	27	-0.1	48
New Hampshire	623.8	1.4	891	17	0.3	44
New Jersey	3,884.0	1.4	1,056	5	0.0	47
New Mexico	791.9	0.4	783	34	2.6	8
New York	8,701.2	1.5	1,096	4	0.4	42
North Carolina	3,919.1	1.5	787	33	0.5	41
North Dakota	420.3	9.9	854	21	11.1	1
Ohio	5,104.0	1.9	817	25	2.8	4
Oklahoma	1,543.4	1.9	768	39	2.7	6
Oregon	1,663.9	1.6	837	24	2.3	14
Pennsylvania	5,645.9	0.7	893	16	2.1	17
Rhode Island	463.1	0.9	859	19	-0.3	49
South Carolina	1,830.7	1.5	736	44	1.4	31
South Dakota	412.8	1.9	677	50	3.2	2
Tennessee	2,669.1	2.0	816	26	2.8	4
Texas	10,779.5	3.0	922	13	2.6	8
Utah	1,225.8	3.6	766	40	1.3	34
Vermont	300.2	1.0	792	31	2.6	8
Virginia	3,659.9	1.2	952	10	0.3	44
Washington	2,948.3	2.4	947	12	2.2	15
West Virginia	712.3	1.4	776	37	1.4	31
Wisconsin	2,749.7	1.4	778	36	1.4	31
Wyoming	288.9	1.6	842	23	2.7	6
Puerto Rico	933.3	1.8	499	(5)	0.6	(5)
Virgin Islands	40.2	-8.6	819	(5)	9.8	(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.

 

Last Modified Date: January 24, 2013