1998 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation — 2000-01-05

Of the 301 largest counties in the United States, 115 had rates of employment growth above the national average of 2.6 percent in 1998, and 17 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 1998 was higher than the national average of $31,908 in 101 of the largest 301 U.S. counties. (New Jersey data were not available for the third and fourth quarters of 1998 and therefore are not shown in this release. Totals for the United States were calculated using estimated data for New Jersey.) Employment and annual pay data by county are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws, covering 124.2 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.