County Employment and Wages News Release — 2012-06-28

From December 2010 to December 2011, employment increased in 266 of the 322 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Kern, Calif., posted the largest increase, with a gain of 5.3 percent over the year, compared with national job growth of 1.4 percent. Within Kern, the largest employment increase occurred in natural resources and mining, which gained 8,896 jobs over the year (16.7 percent). Benton, Wash., experienced the largest over-the- year decrease in employment among the largest counties in the U.S. with a loss of 3.4 percent. The U.S. average weekly wage decreased over the year by 1.7 percent to $955 in the fourth quarter of 2011. This is one of only five declines in the history of the series which dates back to 1978. (See Technical Note.) This is the only quarter in which the average weekly wage decline occurred while employment grew over the year and total wages decreased (-0.5 percent).