Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Weld County 2nd in nation for employment growth during September

Weld County was second in the nation for employment growth from September 2010 to September 2011. According to a report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Weld County's total employment increased 4.8 percent year over year during September, which made it the county with the second-highest employment growth in the nation, behind Williamson County, Tennessee. Nationwide county-ranking data is released several months behind the monthly state and regional employment data.

Of 322 counties surveyed, only Douglas County also ranked in the top 50 with a rank of 48 and an employment increase of 2.8 percent.

Comparing weekly wages from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011, only Denver County placed in the top 50 with a ranking of 29th and a percent increase of 7.6 percent.

According to BLS report:

From September 2010 to September 2011, employment increased in 271 of the 322 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Williamson, Tenn., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 5.4 percent over the year, compared with national job growth of 1.6 percent. Within Williamson, the largest employment increase occurred in professional and business services, which gained 1,743 jobs over the year (9.0 percent). Frederick, Md., experienced the largest over-theyear decrease in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a loss of 2.6 percent.

The U.S. average weekly wage increased over the year by 5.3 percent to $916 in the third quarter of 2011. Among the large counties in the U.S., Lake, Ohio, had the largest over-the-year increase in average weekly wages with a gain of 17.1 percent.


According to the report, total employment in Greeley increased 4.8 percent to 83,400 jobs during September 2011.

The report's data employs information from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

According to the most recent data form the Household Survey of employment, employment in the Greeley Metro Statistical Area, which comprises Weld County, was down year-over-year in January from 107,800 to 106,500, year over year.

Back in September, however, the household survey did show an increase in total employment from 110,266 during September 2010 to 113,200 during September 2011.