Jobs, wages increase in large U.S. counties; tech staff see big gains
Employment increased in about 80 per cent of the largest U.S. counties in the third quarter of 2019 from a year earlier and wages grew in 350 of 355, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the third quarter of 2019, average weekly wages for the nation rose to US$1,093, a 3.6-per-cent increase from a year earlier.
People working in the information sector in the Seattle area earn almost five times that — King County, Wash., tech workers average US$5,367 per week, or about $279,000 a year.
By comparison, financial workers in the New York City area average US$3,437 a week, or about US$179,000 a year.
Wages in the Boulder, Colo., area showed the largest third-quarter year-over-year wage gain at 18.4 per cent.
Double-digit jumps also were seen in Sangamon, Ill., with a 12.8-per-cent jump and in Williamson, Texas, where wages grew 12.3 per cent.
Colorado’s higher minimum wage could explain some of the rise in weekly earnings. Tech giants Apple and Google are also on a hiring spree in Boulder County and tend to pay well. Job site Linkedin is showing that Apple has more than 500 open jobs within 80 km of Boulder, while Google has over 1,600 jobs advertised.
The largest decline was in Linn County, Iowa, where a US$285 drop in average weekly wages in the manufacturing sector from a year earlier — a 14.75-percent decrease — helped cause a 2.6-per-cent fall county-wide.
Wages in the wealthy California counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo are among the few that fell but remain the two with the highest average U.S. wages at US$2,447 and US$2,366, respectively. Wages in San Francisco County rose 7.6 per cent from a year earlier to US$2,273. The percentage increase was the seventh fastest in the U.S.
All 10 of the largest U.S. counties had annual increases in employment and average weekly wages.
The Phoenix area showed the biggest gain in jobs among the 10 largest counties with a 3.2-per-cent boost as population growth drove employment in the education and health services sectors.
Employment increased by 14,264 jobs from a year earlier.