2000 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — 2001-10-18

Of the 315 largest counties in the United States, 138 had rates of employment growth above the national average of 2.3 percent in 2000, and 23 experienced declines in employment, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Average annual pay in 2000 was higher than the national average of $35,296 in 105 of the largest 315 U.S. counties. Extraordinary growth in average annual pay was experienced in the San Francisco Bay area, where three of the four counties with the highest rates of pay growth were located. Employment and annual pay data by county are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws, covering 129.9 million full- and part-time workers. Average annual pay is computed by dividing total annual payrolls of employees covered by UI programs by the average monthly number of these employees.