County Employment and Wages News Release — 2009-04-08

From September 2007 to September 2008, employment declined in more than half of the largest U.S. counties, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Elkhart County, Ind., located about 100 miles east of Chicago, posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 10.8 percent over the year, compared with a national job decrease of 0.8 percent. Manufacturing sustained the largest employment losses in Elkhart. Yakima, Wash., in the south-central part of the State, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S., with a gain of 3.2 percent, led by growth in agriculture. Rutherford County, Tenn., within the metropolitan Nashville area, had the largest over-the-year gain in average weekly wages in the third quarter of 2008, with an increase of 17.3 percent coming largely from manufacturing. The U.S. average weekly wage rose by 2.8 percent over the same time span.