2001 Annual Pay Levels in Metropolitan Areas — 2002-11-08

Average annual pay of employees in the nation's 318 metropolitan areas increased by 2.4 percent from 2000 to 2001, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The over-the-year gain was smaller than last year's gain of 6.1 percent and was the lowest increase since 1994. Annual pay in metropolitan areas averaged $37,897 in 2001, up from $37,017 in 2000. Average annual pay for the entire nation, metropolitan and nonmetropo- litan areas combined, was $36,214 in 2001, a 2.5 percent increase from 2000. (Average Annual Pay by State and Industry, 2001, was issued on September 24, 2002, in USDL 02-540.) Average annual pay data are compiled from reports submitted by employers subject to state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) laws covering 129.7 million full- and part-time jobs.