County Employment and Wages News Release — 2020-11-18

From June 2019 to June 2020, employment decreased in all of the 357 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In June 2020, national employment (as measured by the QCEW program) decreased to 135.1 million, a 9.4-percent decrease over the year. Atlantic, NJ, had the largest over-the-year decrease in employment with a loss of 34.2 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for June 2020, and average weekly wage data are presented for second quarter 2020. Employment in most of the country was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. Among the 357 largest counties, 352 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the second quarter of 2020, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,188, an 8.6-percent increase over the year. Atlantic, NJ, had the largest second quarter over-the-year wage gain at 22.5 percent.