County Employment and Wages News Release — 2020-05-20

From December 2018 to December 2019, employment increased in 285 of the 355 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In December 2019, national employment (as measured by the QCEW program) increased to 149.9 million, a 1.2 percent increase over the year. Cleveland, OK, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment with a gain of 5.8 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for December 2019, and average weekly wage data are presented for fourth quarter 2019. Among the 355 largest counties, 341 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the fourth quarter of 2019, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,185, a 3.5 percent increase over the year. Santa Cruz, CA, had the largest fourth quarter over-the-year wage gain at 20.7 percent. (See table 1.) Cleveland, OK, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (5.8 percent).