County Employment and Wages News Release — 2019-11-20

From June 2018 to June 2019, employment increased in 279 of the 355 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In June 2019, national employment (as measured by the QCEW program) increased to 149.1 million, a 1.1 percent increase over the year. Adams, CO, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment with a gain of 5.3 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for June 2019, and average weekly wage data are presented for second quarter 2019. Among the 355 largest counties, 347 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the second quarter of 2019, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,095, a 3.8 percent increase over the year. Benton, AR, had the largest second quarter over-the-year wage gain at 16.3 percent. (See table 1.) Adams, CO, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (5.3 percent).