Large County Employment
In December 2010, national employment, as measured by the QCEW program, was 129.5 million, up by 0.9 percent or 1.1 million workers, from December 2009. The 326 U.S. counties with 75,000 or more employees accounted for 70.9 percent of total U.S. employment and 76.8 percent of total wages. These 326 counties had a net job growth of 704,131 over the year, accounting for 61.8 percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.
Elkhart, Ind., had the largest percentage increase in employment among the largest U.S. counties. The five counties with the largest increases in employment level (New York, N.Y.; Harris, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Maricopa, Ariz.; and Cook, Ill.) had a combined over-the-year gain of 130,200, or 11.4 percent of the employment increase for the U.S.
Employment declined in 83 of the large counties from December 2009 to December 2010. Manatee, Fla., had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-4.0 percent) in the nation. Within Manatee, professional and business services was the largest contributor to the decrease in employment with a loss of 14.0 percent. San Joaquin, Calif., experienced the second largest employment decrease, followed by Volusia, Fla., Marion, Fla., and Broome, N.Y.
Large County Average Weekly Wages
Average weekly wages for the nation increased by 3.0 percent over the year in the fourth quarter of 2010. Among the 326 largest counties, 294 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Olmsted, Minn., had the largest wage gain among the largest U.S. counties, 31.9 percent. This increase was largely due to a 55.1 percent increase in average weekly wages in education and health services.
Union, N.J., had the largest wage decline with a loss of 2.8 percent over the year. Professional and business services contributed significantly to the county’s overall average weekly wage loss. Montgomery, Ala., and Montgomery, Pa., had the second largest percent decline in average weekly wages among the counties, followed by Collin, Texas, Benton, Ark., and Williamson, Texas.
Ten Largest U.S. Counties
Nine of the 10 largest counties experienced over-the-year percent increases in employment in December 2010. Harris, Texas, experienced the largest gain in employment with a 1.8 percent increase. Within Harris, trade, transportation, and utilities had the largest over-the-year increase among all private industry groups with a gain of 7,830 workers (1.8 percent). Employment was unchanged in Los Angeles, Calif., over the year.
All of the 10 largest U.S. counties had an over-the-year increase in average weekly wages. San Diego, Calif., experienced the largest increase in average weekly wages with a gain of 5.3 percent. Within San Diego, the largest impact on the county’s average weekly wage growth occurred in professional and business services, where total wages increased by $268.7 million over the year (6.8 percent). Maricopa, Ariz., had the smallest wage increase.
