Technical information:         (202) 691-6567     USDL 07-0525
                      http://www.bls.gov/cew/
                                                  For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                       691-5902     Wednesday, April 11, 2007


             COUNTY EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES:  THIRD QUARTER 2006

   In September 2006, Jefferson County, La., had the largest over-the-
year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the 
U.S., according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.  Jefferson County, a New Or-
leans suburb, experienced an over-the-year employment gain of 22.4 percent, 
compared with national job growth of 1.5 percent.  Employment gains in Jef-
ferson County reflected significant recovery from substantial job losses 
that occurred in September 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina.  In contrast, Or-
leans County, which also was affected by Hurricane Katrina, continued to show 
an over-the-year employment decline (-12.3 percent).  Kent County, R.I., had 
the largest over-the-year gain in average weekly wages in the third quarter 
of 2006, with an increase of 18.4 percent.  The U.S. average weekly wage rose 
by 0.9 percent over the same time span.
 
   Of the 325 largest counties in the United States, as measured by 2005
annual average employment, 130 had over-the-year percentage growth in em-
ployment above the national average (1.5 percent) in September 2006, and
187 experienced changes below the national average.  The percent change in 
average weekly wages was higher than the national average (0.9 percent) in 
133 of the largest U.S. counties, but was below the national average in 184 
counties.

   The employment and average weekly wage data by county are compiled under
the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as
the ES-202 program.  The data are derived from reports submitted by every
employer subject to unemployment insurance (UI) laws.  The 8.8 million em-
ployer reports cover 135.0 million full- and part-time workers.  The attached 
tables contain data for the nation and for the 325 U.S. counties with annual 
average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2005. September 2006 employment 
and 2006 third-quarter average weekly wages for all states are provided in 
table 4 of this release.  Final data for all states, metropolitan statistical 
areas, counties, and the nation through the fourth quarter of 2005 are avail-
able on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/.  Preliminary data for 
third quarter 2006, along with updated data for the first and second quarters 
of 2006, will be available later in April on the BLS Web site.

Large County Employment

   In September 2006, national employment, as measured by the QCEW program,
was 135.0 million, up by 1.5 percent from September 2005.  The 325 U.S.
counties with 75,000 or more employees accounted for 70.7 percent of total
U.S. covered employment and 76.5 percent of total covered wages.  These 325
counties had a net job gain of 1,328,166 over the year, accounting for 66.0
percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.  Employment rose in 256 of 
the large counties from September 2005 to September 2006.  Jefferson County, 
La., had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (22.4 
percent).  Snohomish, Wash., had the next largest increase, 8.2 percent, 
followed by the counties of Collin, Texas (7.2 percent), Harrison, Miss. 
(6.8 percent), and Montgomery, Texas (5.7 percent).  The large employment 
gains in Jefferson County reflected significant recovery from the substan-
tial job losses in September 2005, which were related to Hurricane Katrina.  
Strong employment growth in Harrison County, which also was impacted by this 
hurricane, showed that the county had begun to rebound from job losses in 2005.  
(See table 1.)

 
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
   |                         Hurricane Katrina                         |
   |                                                                   |
   |      The employment and wages reported in this news release re-   |
   | flect the impact of Hurricane Katrina and ongoing labor market    |
   | trends in certain counties.  The effects of Hurricane Katrina,    |
   | which hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, were first apparent  |
   | in the September QCEW employment counts and in the wage totals    |
   | for the third quarter of 2005.  This catastrophic storm contin-   |
   | ued to affect monthly employment and quarterly wage totals in     |
   | parts of Louisiana and Mississippi in the third quarter of 2006.  |
   | For more information, see the QCEW section of the Katrina cover-  |
   | age on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/katrina/qcewques-   |
   | tions.htm.                                                        |                                
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

   
                                  - 2 -
  
Table A.  Top 10 large counties ranked by September 2006 employment,
September 2005-06 employment growth, and September 2005-06 percent growth in 
employment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Employment in large counties                          
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            |                            |                        
   September 2006 employment|    Growth in employment,   |      Percent growth    
         (thousands)        |      September 2005-06     |       in employment,   
                            |          (thousands)       |    September 2005-06   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            |                            |                        
United States .... 134,988.9| United States ..... 2,013.1| United States ..... 1.5
----------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------
                            |                            |                        
Los Angeles, Calif.  4,161.2| Harris, Texas ........ 79.4| Jefferson, La. ... 22.4
Cook, Ill. ......... 2,553.4| Maricopa, Ariz. ...... 76.2| Snohomish, Wash. .. 8.2
New York, N.Y. ..... 2,292.3| New York, N.Y. ....... 42.0| Collin, Texas ..... 7.2
Harris, Texas ...... 1,959.1| King, Wash. .......... 40.6| Harrison, Miss. ... 6.8
Maricopa, Ariz. .... 1,819.1| Clark, Nev. .......... 39.1| Montgomery, Texas . 5.7
Orange, Calif. ..... 1,517.9| Dallas, Texas ........ 38.3| Lake, Fla. ........ 5.5
Dallas, Texas ...... 1,466.0| Jefferson, La. ....... 35.5| Williamson, Texas . 5.5
San Diego, Calif. .. 1,321.7| Los Angeles, Calif. .. 29.2| Utah, Utah ........ 5.5
King, Wash. ........ 1,167.1| Salt Lake, Utah ...... 25.4| Douglas, Colo. .... 4.6
Miami-Dade, Fla. ... 1,008.4| Bexar, Texas ......... 24.4| Horry, S.C. ....... 4.6
                            |                            | Salt Lake, Utah ... 4.6
                            |                            |                        
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

   Employment declined in 62 counties from September 2005 to September 2006.  
The largest percentage decline in employment was in Orleans County, La. 
(-12.3 percent).  Employment losses in Orleans County reflected the deva-
station caused by Hurricane Katrina.  Trumbull, Ohio, had the next largest 
employment decline (-4.5 percent), followed by the counties of Macomb, Mich. 
(-4.0 percent), Oakland, Mich. (-3.5 percent), and Rock Island, Ill. (-3.0 
percent).

   The largest gains in the level of employment from September 2005 to
September 2006 were recorded in the counties of Harris, Texas (79,400),
Maricopa, Ariz. (76,200), New York, N.Y. (42,000), King, Wash. (40,600),
and Clark, Nev. (39,100).  (See table A.)

   The largest declines in employment levels occurred in Oakland, Mich. 
(-25,200), followed by the counties of Orleans, La. (-21,600), Wayne, 
Mich. (-20,500), Macomb, Mich. (-13,400), and Kent, Mich. (-5,500).

Large County Average Weekly Wages

   The national average weekly wage in the third quarter of 2006 was $784.
Average weekly wages were higher than the national average in 111 of the
largest 325 U.S. counties.  New York County, N.Y., held the top position
among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,421.  
Santa Clara, Calif., was second with an average weekly wage of $1,414, fol-
lowed by Arlington, Va. ($1,323), Washington, D.C. ($1,307), and San Mateo, 
Calif. ($1,278).  (See table B.)


                                  - 3 -
  
Table B.  Top 10 large counties ranked by third quarter 2006 average weekly wages,
third quarter 2005-06 growth in average weekly wages, and third quarter 2005-06
percent growth in average weekly wages

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Average weekly wage in large counties                                      
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Average weekly wage,    | Growth in average weekly |      Percent growth in    
     third quarter 2006     |   wage, third quarter    |     average weekly wage,  
                            |          2005-06         |   third quarter 2005-06   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            |                          |                           
United States ......... $784| United States ........ $7| United States ........ 0.9
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            |                          |                           
New York, N.Y. ...... $1,421| Kent, R.I. ......... $132| Kent, R.I. .......... 18.4
Santa Clara, Calif. .. 1,414| Orleans, La. ........ 121| Orleans, La. ........ 16.2
Arlington, Va. ....... 1,323| Trumbull, Ohio ....... 85| Trumbull, Ohio ...... 12.3
Washington, D.C. ..... 1,307| Jefferson, Texas ..... 74| Jefferson, La. ...... 10.5
San Mateo, Calif. .... 1,278| Jefferson, La. ....... 69| Jefferson, Texas .... 10.5
San Francisco, Calif.  1,246| Lafayette, La. ....... 56| Mobile, Ala. ......... 8.6
Suffolk, Mass. ....... 1,208| Mobile, Ala. ......... 55| Lafayette, La. ....... 8.2
Fairfield, Conn. ..... 1,191| Ingham, Mich. ........ 52| East Baton Rouge, La.  7.4
Fairfax, Va. ......... 1,179| Morris, N.J. ......... 49| Harrison, Miss. ...... 7.2
Somerset, N.J. ....... 1,165| Vanderburgh, Ind. .... 48| Vanderburgh, Ind. .... 7.1
                            | East Baton Rouge, La.  48| Ingham, Mich. ........ 7.1
                            | Galveston, Texas ..... 48| Galveston, Texas ..... 7.1
                            |                          |                           
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   
 
   There were 212 counties with an average weekly wage below the national
average in the third quarter of 2006.  The lowest average weekly wages were
reported in Cameron County, Texas ($493), followed by the counties of Hidalgo, 
Texas ($514), Horry, S.C. ($517), Webb, Texas ($525), and Yakima, Wash. ($537).  
(See table 1.)

   Over the year, the national average weekly wage rose by 0.9 percent.
Among the largest counties, Kent, R.I., led the nation in growth in aver-
age weekly wages, with an increase of 18.4 percent from the third quarter 
of 2005.  Orleans, La., was second with growth of 16.2 percent, followed 
by the counties of Trumbull, Ohio (12.3 percent), and Jefferson, La., and
Jefferson, Texas (10.5 percent each).  The high average weekly wage growth
rate for Orleans County was related to the disproportionate job losses in
lower-paid industries due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina.  That is, the
loss of low paid jobs due to the storm boosted average wages in Orleans
County.

   One hundred and twelve counties experienced over-the-year declines in
average weekly wages.  Passaic, N.J., had the largest decrease, -10.2 per-
cent, followed by the counties of Williamson, Texas (-5.7 percent), Fort
Bend, Texas (-5.0 percent), Loudoun, Va. (-4.2 percent), and Ventura, Calif. 
(-4.0 percent).

Ten Largest U.S. Counties

   Each of the 10 largest counties (based on 2005 annual average employment
levels) reported increases in employment from September 2005 to September
2006.  Maricopa County, Ariz., experienced the largest percent increase in 
employment among the largest counties with a 4.4 percent increase.  Within 
Maricopa County, employment rose in every industry group except information.  
The largest gains were in education and health services (6.2 percent), fol-
lowed by construction (5.9 percent).  Harris, Texas, had the next largest
increase in employment, 4.2 percent, followed by King, Wash. (3.6 percent).
The smallest percent increase in employment occurred in Miami-Dade, Fla. 
(0.6 percent), followed by Cook, Ill., and Los Angeles, Calif. (0.7 percent 
each).  (See table 2.)

   Eight of the 10 largest U.S. counties saw over-the-year increases in
average weekly wages.  King County, Wash., had the fastest growth in wages
among the 10 largest counties, with a gain of 4.7 percent.  Within King
County, Wash., average weekly wages increased the most in information (19.4
percent), followed by natural resources and mining (17.4 percent).  Dallas,
Texas, was second in wage growth with a gain of 2.2 percent, followed by
Harris, Texas (2.0 percent).  The smallest wage gains among the 10 largest
counties occurred in New York, N.Y. (0.3 percent).  San Diego, Calif. (-0.7 
percent) and Orange, Calif. (-1.1 percent) experienced declines in average 
weekly wages.


                                 - 4 -

Largest County by State

   Table 3 shows September 2006 employment and the 2006 third quarter average 
weekly wage in the largest county in each state, which is based on 2005 annual 
average employment levels.  (This table includes two counties--Yellowstone, Mont., 
and Laramie, Wyo.--that had employment levels below 75,000.)  The employment lev-
els in the counties in table 3 in September 2006 ranged from approximately 4.2 mil-
lion in Los Angeles County, Calif., to 42,100 in Laramie County, Wyo.  The highest 
average weekly wage of these counties was in New York, N.Y. ($1,421), while the low-
est average weekly wage was in Yellowstone, Mont. ($637).

For More Information
   
   For additional information about the quarterly employment and wages data, please 
read the Technical Note or visit the QCEW Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/.  Ad-
ditional information about the QCEW data also may be obtained by e-mailing QCEWinfo@
bls.gov or by calling (202) 691-6567.

   Several BLS regional offices are issuing QCEW news releases targeted to local data users.
For links to these releases, see http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewregional.htm.

                               ______________________________


   The County Employment and Wages release for fourth quarter 2006 is scheduled to be 
released on Wednesday, July 25.
   


   


                                  - 5 -

Technical Note

   
   These data are the product of a federal-state cooperative program, the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the
ES-202 program.  The data are derived from summaries of employment and to-
tal pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) 
legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).  The summaries 
are a result of the administration of state unemployment insurance programs 
that require most employers to pay quarterly taxes based on the employment 
and wages of workers covered by UI.  Data for 2006 are preliminary and sub-
ject to revision.

   For purposes of this release, large counties are defined as having em-
ployment levels of 75,000 or greater.  In addition, data for San Juan,
Puerto Rico, are provided, but not used in calculating U.S. averages,
rankings, or in the analysis in the text.  Each year, these large counties
are selected on the basis of the preliminary annual average of employment
for the previous year.  The 326 counties presented in this release were
derived using 2005 preliminary annual averages of employment.  For 2006
data, four counties have been added to the publication tables:  Douglas,
Colo., Weld, Colo., Boone, Ky., and Butler, Pa.  These counties will be
included in all 2006 quarterly releases.  One county, Potter, Texas, which
was published in the 2005 releases, no longer has an employment level of
75,000 or more and will be excluded in the 2006 releases.  The counties
in table 2 are selected and sorted each year based on the annual average 
employment from the preceding year.

   The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from
data released by the individual states.  These potential differences result
from the states' continuing receipt of UI data over time and ongoing review
and editing.  The individual states determine their data release timetables.
   
Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES employment measures

   The Bureau publishes three different establishment-based employment
measures for any given quarter.  Each of these measures--QCEW, Business
Employment Dynamics (BED), and Current Employment Statistics (CES)--makes
use of the quarterly UI employment reports in producing data; however, 
each measure has a somewhat different universe coverage, estimation pro-
cedure, and publication product.

   Differences in coverage and estimation methods can result in somewhat
different measures of employment change over time. It is important to
understand program differences and the intended uses of the program pro-
ducts.  (See table below.)  Additional information on each program can 
be obtained from the program Web sites shown in the table below.

                                  - 6 -

Summary of Major Differences between QCEW, BED, and CES Employment Measures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           |         QCEW        |         BED          |         CES
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------------
Source     |--Count of UI admini-|--Count of longitudi- |--Sample survey: 
           |  strative records   |  nally-linked UI ad- |  400,000 establish-
           |  submitted by 8.8   |  ministrative records|  ments
           |  million establish- |  submitted by 6.8    |
           |  ments              |  million private-sec-|
           |                     |  tor employers       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------------
Coverage   |--UI and UCFE cover- |--UI coverage, exclud-|Nonfarm wage and sal-
           |  age, including all |  ing government, pri-|  ary jobs:
           |  employers subject  |  vate households, and|--UI coverage, exclud-
           |  to state and feder-|  establishments with |  ing agriculture, pri-
           |  al UI laws         |  zero employment     |  vate households, and
           |                     |                      |  self-employed workers
           |                     |                      |--Other employment, in-
           |                     |                      |  cluding railroads, 
           |                     |                      |  religious organiza-
           |                     |                      |  tions, and other non-
           |                     |                      |  UI-covered jobs
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------------
Publication|--Quarterly          |--Quarterly           |--Monthly 
frequency  |  -7 months after the|  -8 months after the |  -Usually first Friday
           |   end of each quar- |   end of each quarter|   of following month
           |   ter               |                      |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------------
Use of UI  |--Directly summarizes|--Links each new UI   |--Uses UI file as a sam-
file       |  and publishes each |  quarter to longitu- |  pling frame and annu-
           |  new quarter of UI  |  dinal database and  |  ally realigns (bench-
           |  data               |  directly summarizes |  marks) sample esti-    
           |                     |  gross job gains and |  mates to first quar-  
           |                     |  losses              |  ter UI levels
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|------------------------
Principal  |--Provides a quarter-|--Provides quarterly  |--Provides current month-
products   |  ly and annual uni- |  employer dynamics   |  ly estimates of employ-
           |  verse count of es- |  data on establish-  |  ment, hours, and earn-
           |  tablishments, em-  |  ment openings, clos-|  ings at the MSA, state,
           |  ployment, and wages|  ings, expansions,   |  and national level by
           |  at the county, MSA,|  and contractions at |  industry
           |  state, and national|  the national level  |
           |  levels by detailed |  by NAICS supersec-  |
           |  industry           |  tors and by size of |
           |                     |  firm                |
           |                     |--Future expansions   |
           |                     |  will include data at|
           |                     |  the county, MSA, and|
           |                     |  state level         |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|--------------------------
Principal  |--Major uses include:|--Major uses include: |--Major uses include:
uses       |  -Detailed locality |  -Business cycle     |  -Principal national
           |   data              |   analysis           |   economic indicator
           |  -Periodic universe |  -Analysis of employ-|  -Official time series 
           |   counts for bench- |   er dynamics under- |   for employment change
           |   marking sample    |   lying economic ex- |   measures
           |   survey estimates  |   pansions and con-  |  -Input into other ma-
           |  -Sample frame for  |   tractions          |   jor economic indi-
           |   BLS establishment |  -An analysis of em- |   cators
           |   surveys           |   ployment expansion |
           |                     |   and contraction by |
           |                     |   size of firm       |
-----------|---------------------|----------------------|--------------------------
Program    |--www.bls.gov/cew/   |--www.bls.gov/bdm/    |--www.bls.gov/ces/
Web sites  |                     |                      |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  
                                  - 7 -
   
Coverage
   
   Employment and wage data for workers covered by state UI laws are
compiled from quarterly contribution reports submitted to the SWAs by
employers.  For federal civilian workers covered by the Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, employment and wage data
are compiled from quarterly reports that are sent to the appropriate SWA by
the specific federal agency.  In addition to the quarterly contribution
reports, employers who operate multiple establishments within a state com-
plete a questionnaire, called the "Multiple Worksite Report," which provides
detailed information on the location and industry of each of their establish-
ments.  The employment and wage data included in this release are derived
from microdata summaries of nearly 9 million employer reports of employment
and wages submitted by states to the BLS.  These reports are based on place
of employment rather than place of residence.
   
   UI and UCFE coverage is broad and basically comparable from state to
state.  In 2005, UI and UCFE programs covered workers in 131.6 million
jobs.  The estimated 126.7 million workers in these jobs (after adjust-
ment for multiple jobholders) represented 96.6 percent of civilian wage 
and salary employment.  Covered workers received $5.352 trillion in pay,
representing 94.5 percent of the wage and salary component of personal
income and 43.0 percent of the gross domestic product.
   
   Major exclusions from UI coverage include self-employed workers, most
agricultural workers on small farms, all members of the Armed Forces, 
elected officials in most states, most employees of railroads, some domes-
tic workers, most student workers at schools, and employees of certain 
small nonprofit organizations.

   State and federal UI laws change periodically.  These changes may have
an impact on the employment and wages reported by employers covered under
the UI program.  Coverage changes may affect the over-the-year comparisons
presented in this news release.  

Concepts and methodology
   
   Monthly employment is based on the number of workers who worked during
or received pay for the pay period including the 12th of the month.  With
few exceptions, all employees of covered firms are reported, including pro-
duction and sales workers, corporation officials, executives, supervisory 
personnel, and clerical workers.  Workers on paid vacations and part-time 
workers also are included.
   
   Average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total
wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels (all employees,
as described above) and dividing the result by 13, for the 13 weeks in the
quarter.  These calculations are made using unrounded employment and wage
values.  The average wage values that can be calculated using rounded data
from the BLS database may differ from the averages reported.  Included in
the quarterly wage data are non-wage cash payments such as bonuses, the cash
value of meals and lodging when supplied, tips and other gratuities, and, in
some states, employer contributions to certain deferred compensation plans
such as 401(k) plans and stock options.  Over-the-year comparisons of average
weekly wages may reflect fluctuations in average monthly employment and/or
total quarterly wages between the current quarter and prior year levels.
   
   Average weekly wages are affected by the ratio of full-time to part-time
workers as well as the number of individuals in high-paying and low-paying
occupations and the incidence of pay periods within a quarter.  For instance,
the average weekly wage of the work force could increase significantly when
there is a large decline in the number of employees that had been receiving
below-average wages.  Wages may include payments to workers not present in
the employment counts because they did not work during the pay period in-
cluding the 12th of the month.  When comparing average weekly wage levels
between industries, states, or quarters, these factors should be taken into
consideration.

                                  - 8 -

   Federal government pay levels are subject to periodic, sometimes large,
fluctuations due to a calendar effect that consists of some quarters having
more pay periods than others.   Most federal employees are paid on a bi-
weekly pay schedule.  As a result of this schedule, in some quarters, fed-
eral wages contain payments for six pay periods, while in other quarters
their wages include payments for seven pay periods.  Over-the-year com-
parisons of average weekly wages may reflect this calendar effect.  Higher
growth in average weekly wages may be attributed, in part, to a comparison
of quarterly wages for the current year, which include seven pay periods,
with year-ago wages that reflect only six pay periods.  An opposite effect
will occur when wages in the current period, which contain six pay periods,
are compared with year-ago wages that include seven pay periods.   The ef-
fect on over-the-year pay comparisons can be pronounced in federal govern-
ment due to the uniform nature of federal payroll processing.  This pattern
may exist in private sector pay, however, because there are more pay period
types (weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly) it is less pronounced.  The
effect is most visible in counties with large concentrations of federal
employment.
                            
   In order to ensure the highest possible quality of data, states verify
with employers and update, if necessary, the industry, location, and own-
ership classification of all establishments on a 3-year cycle.  Changes
in establishment classification codes resulting from this process are in-
troduced with the data reported for the first quarter of the year.  Changes 
resulting from improved employer reporting also are introduced in the first 
quarter. 

   QCEW data are not designed as a time series.  QCEW data are simply the
sums of individual establishment records and reflect the number of estab-
lishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time.  Estab-
lishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of rea-
sons--some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative
changes.  For example, economic change would come from a firm relocating
into the county; administrative change would come from a company correcting
its county designation.
   
   The over-the-year changes of employment and wages presented in this
release have been adjusted to account for most of the administrative
corrections made to the underlying establishment reports.  This is done by
modifying the prior-year levels used to calculate the over-the-year changes. 
Percent changes are calculated using an adjusted version of the final 2005 
quarterly data as the base data.  The adjusted prior-year levels used to
calculate the over-the-year percent change in employment and wages are not
published.  These adjusted prior-year levels do not match the unadjusted
data maintained on the BLS Web site.  Over-the-year change calculations
based on data from the Web site, or from data published in prior BLS news
releases, may differ substantially from the over-the-year changes presented
in this news release.
   
   The adjusted data used to calculate the over-the-year change measures
presented in this release account for most of the administrative changes--
those occurring when employers update the industry, location, and owner-
ship information of their establishments.  The most common adjustments
for administrative change are the result of updated information about the
county location of individual establishments.  Included in these adjust-
ments are administrative changes involving the classification of establish-
ments that were previously reported in the unknown or statewide county or
unknown industry categories.  The adjusted data do not account for adminis-
trative changes caused by multi-unit employers who start reporting for each
individual establishment rather than as a single entity.

                                  - 9 -

   The adjusted data used to calculate the over-the-year change measures
presented in any County Employment and Wages news release are valid for
comparisons between the starting and ending points (a 12-month period)
used in that particular release.  Comparisons may not be valid for any
time period other than the one featured in a release even if the changes
were calculated using adjusted data.

   County definitions are assigned according to Federal Information
Processing Standards Publications (FIPS PUBS) as issued by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, after approval by the Secretary of
Commerce pursuant to Section 5131 of the Information Technology Management
Reform Act of 1996 and the Computer Security Act of 1987, Public Law 104-
106.  Areas shown as counties include those designated as independent cities 
in some jurisdictions and, in Alaska, those designated as census areas where 
counties have not been created.  County data also are presented for the New 
England states for comparative purposes even though townships are the more 
common designation used in New England (and New Jersey).  The regions re-
ferred to in this release are defined as census regions.

Additional statistics and other information
   
   An annual bulletin, Employment and Wages, features comprehensive infor-
mation by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for 
the nation and all states.  The 2005 edition of this bulletin contains
selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains
and losses, as well as selected data from the fourth quarter 2005 version
of this news release.   This edition will also be the first to include the
data on a CD for enhanced access and usability.  As a result of this change,
the printed booklet will contain only selected graphic representations of
QCEW data; the data tables themselves will be published exclusively in
electronic formats as PDF and  fixed-width text files.  Employment and Wages
Annual Averages, 2005 will soon be available for sale from the United States 
Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, 
Pittsburgh, PA. 15250, telephone 866-512-1800, outside of Washington, D.C.  
Within Washington, D.C., the telephone number is 202-512-1800.  The fax number 
is 202-512-2104.  Also, the 2005 bulletin is available in a portable document 
format (PDF) on the BLS Web site at http://www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn05.htm.
   
   News releases on quarterly measures of gross job flows also are available
upon request from the Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turn-
over (Business Employment Dynamics), telephone 202-691-6467; http://www.bls.
gov/bdm/; e-mail: BDMInfo@bls.gov.
   
   Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-691-5200;  TDD message referral
phone number:  1-800-877-8339.
 
 
 
 

Table 1. Covered (1) establishments, employment, and wages in the 326 largest counties,
third quarter 2006 (2)
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                     Employment               Average weekly wage(5)   
                                                                                                       
                          Establishments,                                                              
        County (3)         third quarter                Percent   Ranking            Percent   Ranking 
                                2006       September    change,      by    Average   change,      by   
                            (thousands)       2006     September  percent   weekly    third    percent 
                                          (thousands) 2005-06(4)   change    wage    quarter    change 
                                                                                   2005-06 (4)         
                                                                                                                                                                                                              
United States (6)........       8,841.2     134,988.9       1.5        -      $784       0.9        -  
                                                                                                       
Jefferson, AL............          18.6         374.6       0.8       187      803       1.0       127 
Madison, AL..............           8.3         174.2       2.3        89      863       1.8        72 
Mobile, AL...............           9.8         171.5       2.8        60      692       8.6         6 
Montgomery, AL...........           6.6         138.5       1.0       170      669       2.5        49 
Tuscaloosa, AL...........           4.3          84.5       2.9        56      673       2.7        42 
Anchorage Borough, AK....           8.2         148.8        .5       213      849       -.7       257 
Maricopa, AZ.............          92.3       1,819.1       4.4        16      792        .5       165 
Pima, AZ.................          19.8         368.6       2.6        68      708       1.9        70 
Benton, AR...............           5.3          94.3       3.7        30      686       1.5        86 
Pulaski, AR..............          14.2         249.9       1.9       111      717       1.3       102 
                                                                                                       
Washington, AR...........           5.7          93.6       2.1        99      639       1.3       102 
Alameda, CA..............          49.4         691.1        .7       192    1,054        .3       182 
Contra Costa, CA.........          28.2         348.6        .7       192      979        .8       140 
Fresno, CA...............          29.1         366.2       2.9        56      619        .5       165 
Kern, CA.................          17.3         287.8       2.6        68      676       2.3        55 
Los Angeles, CA..........         392.8       4,161.2        .7       192      894       1.7        79 
Marin, CA................          11.8         110.4       1.1       161      985       -.5       241 
Monterey, CA.............          12.2         180.4        .3       230      695       1.3       102 
Orange, CA...............          95.9       1,517.9       1.1       161      897      -1.1       277 
Placer, CA...............          10.5         137.8        .3       230      780       -.6       249 
                                                                                                       
Riverside, CA............          43.1         635.4       3.6        33      678        .0       203 
Sacramento, CA...........          50.5         640.5       1.1       161      871       -.6       249 
San Bernardino, CA.......          45.8         654.2       1.9       111      702        .6       158 
San Diego, CA............          92.5       1,321.7        .9       178      850       -.7       257 
San Francisco, CA........          44.2         537.0       1.8       116    1,246       2.6        44 
San Joaquin, CA..........          17.0         227.7        .9       178      685       -.3       225 
San Luis Obispo, CA......           9.1         105.7        .2       240      664       1.4        94 
San Mateo, CA............          23.2         337.3       1.8       116    1,278        .9       134 
Santa Barbara, CA........          13.7         186.4        .9       178      751       -.3       225 
Santa Clara, CA..........          55.9         884.9       2.3        89    1,414       . 8       140 
                                                                                                       
Santa Cruz, CA...........           8.7         102.2       1.3       147      772       2.5        49 
Solano, CA...............           9.9         133.1       -.1       261      752       1.1       120 
Sonoma, CA...............          17.8         194.6        .4       220      785       1.2       113 
Stanislaus, CA...........          13.9         179.7       -.4       277      677       1.5        86 
Tulare, CA...............           8.9         152.4       2.8        60      560       1.4        94 
Ventura, CA..............          21.8         317.5       1.4       136      826      -4.0       319 
Yolo, CA.................           5.4         102.2       2.3        89      760      -2.6       304 
Adams, CO................           9.4         155.2       3.1        53      744       -.8       264 
Arapahoe, CO.............          19.9         277.0       1.4       136      955       2.0        65 
Boulder, CO..............          12.7         158.4       2.5        73      955      -3.6       316 
                                                                                                       
Denver, CO...............          25.5         436.3       1.7       118      988       4.1        22 
Douglas, CO..............           9.0          88.5       4.6         9      779      -3.7       317 
El Paso, CO..............          17.6         245.8       1.5       131      733      -1.1       277 
Jefferson, CO............          19.0         208.7        .2       240      809        .0       203 
Larimer, CO..............          10.2         129.6       1.7       118      727        .7       154 
Weld, CO.................           6.0          81.8       3.8        28      671       1.7        79 
Fairfield, CT............          32.7         418.9       1.3       147    1,191       -.5       241 
Hartford, CT.............          25.0         500.4       2.3        89      945      -2.3       301 
New Haven, CT............          22.3         367.8       1.7       118      835      -1.4       288 
New London, CT...........           6.8         130.4       -.2       266      810       -.2       219 
                                                                                                       
New Castle, DE...........          19.6         282.8        .2       240      957       4.0        25 
Washington, DC...........          32.0         674.2        .7       192    1,307       3.6        28 
Alachua, FL..............           6.4         126.5       1.6       126      679       2.4        52 
Brevard, FL..............          14.5         206.8        .0       257      738      -1.1       277 
Broward, FL..............          63.0         746.0       1.3       147      754        .9       134 
Collier, FL..............          12.3         130.7       4.3        20      721        .1       198 
Duval, FL................          25.6         463.7       2.4        83      784       2.6        44 
Escambia, FL.............           7.9         130.1        .7       192      626       -.6       249 
Hillsborough, FL.........          35.8         638.0       2.4        83      757       1.1       120 
Lake, FL.................           6.9          84.4       5.5         6      589      -1.0       273 
                                                                                                       
Lee, FL..................          18.6         222.5       4.1        25      689        .7       154 
Leon, FL.................           8.0         146.8        .6       204      694       1.5        86 
Manatee, FL..............           8.9         126.9       4.1        25      634        .3       182 
Marion, FL...............           8.0         103.6       4.5        12      584        .5       165 
Miami-Dade, FL...........          84.1       1,008.4        .6       204      792       1.5        86 
Okaloosa, FL.............           6.0          84.4       2.9        56      642        .0       203 
Orange, FL...............          34.5         682.2       3.2        51      728        .0       203 
Palm Beach, FL...........          48.9         554.3       1.7       118      756      -1.6       296 
Pasco, FL................           9.4         100.4       3.5        37      589       4.2        19 
Pinellas, FL.............          30.8         445.3        .3       230      682       -.4       234 
                                                                                                       
Polk, FL.................          12.4         206.3       2.1        99      644       2.4        52 
Sarasota, FL.............          14.9         158.9       3.5        37      675      -1.0       273 
Seminole, FL.............          14.5         177.8       2.4        83      696        .9       134 
Volusia, FL..............          13.9         167.4       2.0       105      580       1.6        82 
Bibb, GA.................           4.7          84.3      -1.2       306      644      -1.4       288 
Chatham, GA..............           7.4         135.3       1.9       111      676        .3       182 
Clayton, GA..............           4.4         108.7       -.4       277      738      -2.9       311 
Cobb, GA.................          20.0         312.4       2.8        60      864       1.3       102 
De Kalb, GA..............          15.8         277.2      -1.1       302      854       1.8        72 
Fulton, GA...............          39.6         777.7       1.3       147    1,016       1.0       127 
                                                                                                       
Gwinnett, GA.............          23.0         327.2       3.3        48      830       -.4       234 
Muscogee, GA.............           4.8          96.6      -2.5       315      625       -.5       241 
Richmond, GA.............           4.8         103.1      -1.9       313      680       2.1        62 
Honolulu, HI.............          24.0         452.2       2.3        89      744        .5       165 
Ada, ID..................          14.7         210.7       4.4        16      727       1.1       120 
Champaign, IL............           4.1          91.6        .8       187      676        .6       158 
Cook, IL.................         135.0       2,553.4        .7       192      928       1.0       127 
Du Page, IL..............          34.6         597.4        .4       220      927       1.1       120 
Kane, IL.................          12.1         212.5       2.1        99      718      -1.8       299 
Lake, IL.................          20.3         333.8        .8       187      936       2.6        44 
                                                                                                       
McHenry, IL..............           8.1         103.0       3.4        43      693       -.3       225 
McLean, IL...............           3.6          85.8        .4       220      766        .8       140 
Madison, IL..............           5.9          95.5        .3       230      651        .5       165 
Peoria, IL...............           4.7         103.3       2.5        73      749       -.8       264 
Rock Island, IL..........           3.4          77.5      -3.0       318      756        .1       198 
St. Clair, IL............           5.3          95.7       1.2       156      642        .0       203 
Sangamon, IL.............           5.2         130.5      -1.1       302      783       2.0        65 
Will, IL.................          12.5         183.5       4.5        12      717      -1.1       277 
Winnebago, IL............           6.8         136.6        .1       252      695       1.5        86 
Allen, IN................           8.9         185.5       1.4       136      681       -.3       225 
                                                                                                       
Elkhart, IN..............           4.8         126.9        .1       252      667      -3.1       313 
Hamilton, IN.............           7.0         101.6       3.7        30      767      -3.4       315 
Lake, IN.................          10.0         195.6       -.4       277      704        .7       154 
Marion, IN...............          23.6         583.0        .2       240      814       -.5       241 
St. Joseph, IN...........           6.0         125.3      -1.1       302      667        .2       194 
Vanderburgh, IN..........           4.8         108.9        .2       240      723       7.1        10 
Linn, IA.................           6.2         121.0       2.1        99      745      -2.6       304 
Polk, IA.................          14.4         271.3       2.4        83      783      -1.0       273 
Scott, IA................           5.2          89.3       -.8       295      649       1.4        94 
Johnson, KS..............          20.0         312.0       3.4        43      812      -1.6       296 
                                                                                                       
Sedgwick, KS.............          12.2         252.4       3.3        48      729       1.5        86 
Shawnee, KS..............           4.8          93.2       -.6       288      675        .4       173 
Wyandotte, KS............           3.2          81.1       2.9        56      770        .8       140 
Boone, KY................           3.4          74.8      -2.6       316      712      -3.0       312 
Fayette, KY..............           9.2         173.4       (7)        -       715        .7       154 
Jefferson, KY............          22.5         433.2       1.7       118      775       (7)        -  
Caddo, LA................           7.3         125.7       1.0       170      666       3.3        29 
Calcasieu, LA............           4.9          85.5        .6       204      654        .3       182 
East Baton Rouge, LA.....          13.8         262.2       2.5        73      698       7.4         8 
Jefferson, LA............          14.4         194.2      22.4         1      727      10.5         4 
                                                                                                       
Lafayette, LA............           8.2         131.2       4.5        12      737       8.2         7 
Orleans, LA..............          11.7         154.8     -12.3       322      870      16.2         2 
Cumberland, ME...........          12.0         172.6        .7       192      711        .3       182 
Anne Arundel, MD.........          14.2         228.4       2.4        83      835       1.0       127 
Baltimore, MD............          21.5         374.2       -.7       289      809        .2       194 
Frederick, MD............           5.8          92.2       -.2       266      752        .4       173 
Harford, MD..............           5.5          82.2       1.4       136      759        .8       140 
Howard, MD...............           8.4         143.5       1.2       156      908      -1.2       283 
Montgomery, MD...........          32.4         467.1       1.3       147    1,034        .6       158 
Prince Georges, MD.......          15.5         315.2        .0       257      867       -.1       212 
                                                                                                       
Baltimore City, MD.......          14.1         350.5       -.4       277      911        .3       182 
Barnstable, MA...........           9.3          97.8      -1.6       310      667        .6       158 
Bristol, MA..............          15.6         221.7        .0       257      693       -.4       234 
Essex, MA................          20.6         301.2       1.1       161      844       -.2       219 
Hampden, MA..............          14.1         201.7       -.1       261      733        .4       173 
Middlesex, MA............          47.1         804.6       1.6       126    1,108       -.3       225 
Norfolk, MA..............          21.5         321.6        .2       240      943       2.2        59 
Plymouth, MA.............          13.8         179.6        .5       213      742       -.7       257 
Suffolk, MA..............          21.5         575.5       1.5       131    1,208        .8       140 
Worcester, MA............          20.5         322.3        .9       178      792       -.8       264 
                                                                                                       
Genesee, MI..............           8.3         146.3      -2.4       314      769       5.6        14 
Ingham, MI...............           7.1         162.4       -.3       274      787       7.1        10 
Kalamazoo, MI............           5.6         116.2      -1.2       306      711        .3       182 
Kent, MI.................          14.6         341.8      -1.6       310      730       1.2       113 
Macomb, MI...............          18.3         322.7      -4.0       320      839      -1.1       277 
Oakland, MI..............          40.4         697.4      -3.5       319      931        .1       198 
Ottawa, MI...............           5.8         115.2        .2       240      696       -.9       270 
Saginaw, MI..............           4.5          89.2      -1.5       309      722       4.6        16 
Washtenaw, MI............           8.2         195.2       -.8       295      913       1.6        82 
Wayne, MI................          33.6         769.1      -2.6       316      905      -1.5       291 
                                                                                                       
Anoka, MN................           7.9         115.7       -.9       299      748       -.5       241 
Dakota, MN...............          10.4         173.4        .3       230      755      -2.6       304 
Hennepin, MN.............          41.9         841.4        .2       240      982       -.9       270 
Olmsted, MN..............           3.6          90.7        .9       178      880       2.7        42 
Ramsey, MN...............          15.4         333.3       -.4       277      851      -1.2       283 
St. Louis, MN............           5.8          96.3        .9       178      641      -2.4       302 
Stearns, MN..............           4.5          80.3       1.4       136      632       1.1       120 
Harrison, MS.............           4.3          84.8       6.8         4      628       7.2         9 
Hinds, MS................           6.5         128.5       1.3       147      697       1.3       102 
Boone, MO................           4.5          82.6       1.6       126      620        .8       140 
                                                                                                       
Clay, MO.................           5.0          87.3       -.7       289      747      -1.8       299 
Greene, MO...............           8.1         154.4       2.4        83      615      -1.3       286 
Jackson, MO..............          18.6         367.8       1.0       170      799        .5       165 
St. Charles, MO..........           7.9         122.8       2.5        73      679       -.6       249 
St. Louis, MO............          33.7         625.8        .7       192      825       -.2       219 
St. Louis City, MO.......           8.0         223.6       -.1       261      869       -.1       212 
Douglas, NE..............          15.4         314.5       1.2       156      734       -.9       270 
Lancaster, NE............           7.9         154.8        .6       204      649       -.6       249 
Clark, NV................          46.2         922.5       4.4        16      751       -.3       225 
Washoe, NV...............          14.0         221.3       2.0       105      749        .1       198 
                                                                                                       
Hillsborough, NH.........          12.5         196.8       -.3       274      861       1.1       120 
Rockingham, NH...........          11.0         140.9       1.4       136      764      -2.7       308 
Atlantic, NJ.............           6.9         152.5       1.4       136      694       -.3       225 
Bergen, NJ...............          34.7         450.7        .6       204      969        .3       182 
Burlington, NJ...........          11.6         202.0        .4       220      843       -.6       249 
Camden, NJ...............          13.8         213.3       1.1       161      794      -1.5       291 
Essex, NJ................          21.7         360.1        .4       220      990      -1.1       277 
Gloucester, NJ...........           6.5         104.7        .2       240      714       -.4       234 
Hudson, NJ...............          14.2         236.1       -.8       295    1,061       2.9        36 
Mercer, NJ...............          11.1         227.7       1.1       161      980       -.4       234 
                                                                                                       
Middlesex, NJ............          21.3         396.4        .2       240      996       3.2        30 
Monmouth, NJ.............          20.8         259.2        .3       230      830       -.2       219 
Morris, NJ...............          18.3         288.6       1.3       147    1,136       4.5        17 
Ocean, NJ................          12.1         152.4        .3       230      669       -.1       212 
Passaic, NJ..............          12.8         177.3       -.2       266      835     -10.2       323 
Somerset, NJ.............          10.2         173.1       1.5       131    1,165       1.0       127 
Union, NJ................          15.1         229.6        .3       230      967       -.7       257 
Bernalillo, NM...........          17.0         335.0       3.4        43      709        .4       173 
Albany, NY...............           9.9         227.7       -.1       261      801       -.5       241 
Bronx, NY................          15.8         221.8        .6       204      789       1.8        72 
                                                                                                       
Broome, NY...............           4.5          94.4       -.2       266      641       2.6        44 
Dutchess, NY.............           8.3         118.4        .4       220      814       4.1        22 
Erie, NY.................          23.4         454.1       -.9       299      689        .4       173 
Kings, NY................          44.0         462.9       1.0       170      691        .9       134 
Monroe, NY...............          17.8         380.3       -.4       277      782       1.8        72 
Nassau, NY...............          52.2         600.1       1.0       170      867       1.4        94 
New York, NY.............         116.2       2,292.3       1.9       111    1,421        .3       182 
Oneida, NY...............           5.3         110.1       1.3       147      605      -1.3       286 
Onondaga, NY.............          12.8         250.6       -.5       285      734       2.1        62 
Orange, NY...............           9.8         130.0        .3       230      676       1.2       113 
                                                                                                       
Queens, NY...............          41.9         489.6       1.1       161      782      -1.4       288 
Richmond, NY.............           8.5          91.3       1.9       111      711        .0       203 
Rockland, NY.............           9.6         113.1        .6       204      831       2.8        38 
Suffolk, NY..............          49.6         617.2        .5       213      850       1.8        72 
Westchester, NY..........          36.3         413.9        .5       213    1,029       1.8        72 
Buncombe, NC.............           7.3         112.9       2.2        96      629       2.4        52 
Catawba, NC..............           4.4          87.6       1.7       118      617        .8       140 
Cumberland, NC...........           5.9         116.7       -.7       289      605      -1.5       291 
Durham, NC...............           6.3         177.1       3.8        28    1,037       1.5        86 
Forsyth, NC..............           8.6         180.7        .8       187      762       -.1       212 
                                                                                                       
Guilford, NC.............          13.8         275.1        .5       213      714       1.1       120 
Mecklenburg, NC..........          28.7         544.4       3.5        37      922       3.1        34 
New Hanover, NC..........           6.9         101.9       3.5        37      644       1.4        94 
Wake, NC.................          25.0         426.7       3.6        33      789       1.3       102 
Cass, ND.................           5.7          96.2       3.4        43      649        .2       194 
Butler, OH...............           7.3         146.0       1.0       170      694      -2.4       302 
Cuyahoga, OH.............          38.1         757.1       -.4       277      800       -.6       249 
Franklin, OH.............          29.3         683.2        .4       220      805        .4       173 
Hamilton, OH.............          24.1         525.5       -.7       289      871        .8       140 
Lake, OH.................           6.9         100.5       -.4       277      646      -2.7       308 
                                                                                                       
Lorain, OH...............           6.3         102.3       -.2       266      672      -3.7       317 
Lucas, OH................          10.9         225.5       -.7       289      720       1.3       102 
Mahoning, OH.............           6.3         105.4        .6       204      584        .0       203 
Montgomery, OH...........          13.0         273.5      -1.8       312      777       3.7        27 
Stark, OH................           9.1         162.9       -.7       289      633        .6       158 
Summit, OH...............          14.9         274.8        .3       230      715      -1.7       298 
Trumbull, OH.............           4.8          83.1      -4.5       321      777      12.3         3 
Oklahoma, OK.............          23.0         424.0       1.5       131      708       3.2        30 
Tulsa, OK................          19.1         342.8       2.6        68      705        .3       182 
Clackamas, OR............          12.4         148.1       2.0       105      740       -.5       241 
                                                                                                       
Jackson, OR..............           6.7          85.9       1.6       126      599       -.3       225 
Lane, OR.................          10.8         150.6       2.3        89      634        .3       182 
Marion, OR...............           9.2         142.3       2.1        99      638       4.1        22 
Multnomah, OR............          26.8         442.5       3.3        48      803        .5       165 
Washington, OR...........          15.8         247.7       3.2        51      925      -1.5       291 
Allegheny, PA............          35.3         683.8        .4       220      823       1.5        86 
Berks, PA................           9.1         169.8       2.2        96      716       1.3       102 
Bucks, PA................          20.0         264.6       1.1       161      766        .8       140 
Butler, PA...............           4.7          77.6       2.5        73      668       1.2       113 
Chester, PA..............          14.9         236.0       1.4       136      983       -.2       219 
                                                                                                       
Cumberland, PA...........           5.9         126.7        .5       213      733      -2.7       308 
Dauphin, PA..............           7.3         183.0       2.5        73      766      -1.5       291 
Delaware, PA.............          13.6         209.7        .8       187      826       1.6        82 
Erie, PA.................           7.2         129.0       -.5       285      632        .8       140 
Lackawanna, PA...........           5.7         101.8        .9       178      613       -.5       241 
Lancaster, PA............          12.1         229.6        .1       252      687      -1.2       283 
Lehigh, PA...............           8.4         178.3       2.5        73      781       2.9        36 
Luzerne, PA..............           7.9         143.3      -1.0       301      623       -.6       249 
Montgomery, PA...........          27.5         484.6        .2       240      964        .6       158 
Northampton, PA..........           6.4          99.0       1.2       156      701       -.4       234 
                                                                                                       
Philadelphia, PA.........          29.2         632.9       -.3       274      929        .8       140 
Washington, PA...........           5.3          79.0       2.0       105      715       4.5        17 
Westmoreland, PA.........           9.5         138.8      -1.4       308      652       2.0        65 
York, PA.................           8.9         175.5       1.3       147      697       -.7       257 
Kent, RI.................           5.7          83.5        .4       220      849      18.4         1 
Providence, RI...........          18.2         291.1        .4       220      754        .8       140 
Charleston, SC...........          13.8         203.7       2.6        68      671       -.3       225 
Greenville, SC...........          13.8         231.6       1.6       126      684       -.1       212 
Horry, SC................           9.6         117.4       4.6         9      517       2.8        38 
Lexington, SC............           6.4          92.9       4.2        22      613       1.0       127 
                                                                                                       
Richland, SC.............          10.7         212.7       -.8       295      705       2.3        55 
Spartanburg, SC..........           6.8         116.7        .7       192      698       2.2        59 
Minnehaha, SD............           6.3         113.4       2.0       105      668        .6       158 
Davidson, TN.............          18.2         451.4       1.4       136      792       2.5        49 
Hamilton, TN.............           8.5         195.0        .7       192      685       -.1       212 
Knox, TN.................          10.7         226.7       3.0        54      670        .3       182 
Rutherford, TN...........           4.0          99.8       3.5        37      711       6.0        13 
Shelby, TN...............          20.1         509.4        .2       240      814        .0       203 
Bell, TX.................           4.4          95.5        .9       178      615       3.2        30 
Bexar, TX................          31.1         704.2       3.6        33      696       3.0        35 
                                                                                                       
Brazoria, TX.............           4.4          83.2       4.3        20      748       4.2        19 
Brazos, TX...............           3.7          84.3       1.4       136      558       1.3       102 
Cameron, TX..............           6.3         121.4       4.1        25      493       1.4        94 
Collin, TX...............          15.3         270.0       7.2         3      921        .9       134 
Dallas, TX...............          67.0       1,466.0       2.7        65      961       2.2        59 
Denton, TX...............           9.7         157.1       (7)        -       693       (7)        -  
El Paso, TX..............          13.0         264.1       1.4       136      570       2.3        55 
Fort Bend, TX............           7.5         116.4       4.4        16      820      -5.0       321 
Galveston, TX............           5.1          93.6       (7)        -       723       7.1        10 
Harris, TX...............          92.7       1,959.1       4.2        22      950       2.0        65 
                                                                                                       
Hidalgo, TX..............          10.1         203.7       3.7        30      514       2.8        38 
Jefferson, TX............           5.8         121.7       2.7        65      781      10.5         4 
Lubbock, TX..............           6.6         122.9       2.5        73      594        .5       165 
McLennan, TX.............           4.8         102.9       1.2       156      633       1.3       102 
Montgomery, TX...........           7.3         111.6       5.7         5      723      -1.0       273 
Nueces, TX...............           8.0         150.0       2.1        99      671       2.6        44 
Smith, TX................           5.1          91.5       2.5        73      691       1.9        70 
Tarrant, TX..............          35.4         744.7       2.8        60      814       3.2        30 
Travis, TX...............          26.6         553.0       4.5        12      883       -.1       212 
Webb, TX.................           4.6          85.3       3.0        54      525        .2       194 
                                                                                                       
Williamson, TX...........           6.3         108.6       5.5         6      742      -5.7       322 
Davis, UT................           7.3         101.6       4.2        22      635       -.2       219 
Salt Lake, UT............          39.4         572.1       4.6         9      729       1.4        94 
Utah, UT.................          13.0         169.2       5.5         6      617       4.2        19 
Weber, UT................           5.8          91.8       2.5        73      593       1.7        79 
Chittenden, VT...........           5.8          96.6       1.1       161      778       1.8        72 
Arlington, VA............           7.4         157.4        .9       178    1,323       1.2       113 
Chesterfield, VA.........           7.1         118.3       2.2        96      719       2.0        65 
Fairfax, VA..............          31.8         576.3       1.7       118    1,179       -.8       264 
Henrico, VA..............           8.8         175.1        .7       192      809       -.7       257 
                                                                                                       
Loudoun, VA..............           7.6         126.4       1.0       170      966      -4.2       320 
Prince William, VA.......           6.6         104.0       1.7       118      714       -.8       264 
Alexandria City, VA......           5.9          94.8       1.0       170    1,025       1.2       113 
Chesapeake City, VA......           5.4          98.9       1.5       131      639       1.6        82 
Newport News City, VA....           3.9          97.9        .1       252      711       -.4       234 
Norfolk City, VA.........           5.7         141.4      -1.1       302      757       -.8       264 
Richmond City, VA........           7.0         161.5        .6       204      890       1.0       127 
Virginia Beach City, VA..          11.3         178.8       -.2       266      627       1.3       102 
Clark, WA................          11.4         131.4       2.3        89      723        .4       173 
King, WA.................          75.6       1,167.1       3.6        33    1,044       4.7        15 
                                                                                                       
Kitsap, WA...............           6.5          84.5       2.0       105      709      -3.3       314 
Pierce, WA...............          20.0         269.4       2.6        68      716        .1       198 
Snohomish, WA............          16.9         235.3       8.2         2      798       -.7       257 
Spokane, WA..............          14.8         206.9       3.4        43      651        .9       134 
Thurston, WA.............           6.6          96.9       3.5        37      733       2.8        38 
Whatcom, WA..............           6.7          80.8       2.7        65      632       3.8        26 
Yakima, WA...............           7.8         108.5       2.8        60      537       2.1        62 
Kanawha, WV..............           6.1         108.1        .7       192      676       1.2       113 
Brown, WI................           6.7         149.2       -.1       261      707       2.3        55 
Dane, WI.................          13.9         299.4       -.5       285      784        .8       140 
                                                                                                       
Milwaukee, WI............          21.4         497.2        .1       252      783        .4       173 
Outagamie, WI............           5.0         102.5       -.2       266      680        .4       173 
Racine, WI...............           4.2          76.9        .0       257      715      -2.6       304 
Waukesha, WI.............          13.3         235.8        .5       213      790       1.4        94 
Winnebago, WI............           3.8          89.1       -.2       266      737        .0       203 
San Juan, PR.............          14.8         299.0      -4.3       (8)      514       1.6       (8) 

   1 Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal
Employees (UCFE) programs.  These 325 U.S. counties comprise 70.7 percent of the total covered workers
in the U.S.
   2 Data are preliminary.
   3 Includes areas not officially designated as counties. See Technical Note.
   4 Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic
county reclassifications.  See Technical Note.
   5 Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
   6 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
   7 Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.
   8 This county was not included in the U.S. rankings.





Table 2. Covered (1) establishments, employment, and wages in the ten largest counties,
third quarter 2006 (2)
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                    Employment         Average weekly  
                                                                                           wage (4)    
                                              Establishments,                                          
                                               third quarter                                           
         County by NAICS supersector                2006                    Percent            Percent 
                                                (thousands)    September    change,  Average   change, 
                                                                  2006     September  weekly    third  
                                                              (thousands) 2005-06 (3)  wage    quarter 
                                                                                             2005-06 (3)
                                                                                                                                                                                                              
United States (5)............................       8,841.2     134,988.9       1.5     $784       0.9 
  Private industry...........................       8,562.2     113,752.0       1.7      776        .8 
    Natural resources and mining.............         124.0       1,895.7       3.3      761       3.7 
    Construction.............................         882.5       7,852.5       3.2      829       1.7 
    Manufacturing............................         363.4      14,152.6      -0 5      947        .1 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....       1,899.4      25,982.1       1.1      685        .4 
    Information..............................         144.9       3,034.8       - 7    1,217        .7 
    Financial activities.....................         852.0       8,175.1       1.0    1,133       1.9 
    Professional and business services.......       1,437.6      17,684.7       3.1      938       1.0 
    Education and health services............         799.9      16,992.1       2.6      748        .4 
    Leisure and hospitality..................         711.4      13,290.1       2.0      334        .9 
    Other services...........................       1,128.5       4,373.4        .8      510       1.0 
  Government.................................         279.0      21,236.9        .8      832       1.7 
                                                                                                       
Los Angeles, CA..............................         392.8       4,161.2        .7      894       1.7 
  Private industry...........................         389.1       3,608.2        .8      872       1.2 
    Natural resources and mining.............           0.6          12.2       7.4    1,184      -1.9 
    Construction.............................          14.2         160.0       2.8      896       1.8 
    Manufacturing............................          15.9         463.8      -1.7      937       3.3 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          55.6         807.9        .8      750        .8 
    Information..............................           9.0         206.4      -1.6    1,486       1.3 
    Financial activities.....................          25.2         247.2       -.2    1,440       3.0 
    Professional and business services.......          43.4         603.5       1.4      978      -1.4 
    Education and health services............          28.2         469.4       1.7      834       2.2 
    Leisure and hospitality..................          27.1         392.5       1.9      513       2.8 
    Other services...........................         169.9         245.1       1.9      413       2.2 
  Government.................................           3.7         553.0        .2    1,038       4.6 
                                                                                                       
Cook, IL.....................................         135.0       2,553.4        .7      928       1.0 
  Private industry...........................         133.8       2,241.8        .9      925       1.3 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .1           1.6       -.9    1,036       7.2 
    Construction.............................          11.8         100.6       3.1    1,147       3.1 
    Manufacturing............................           7.2         245.6      -1.8      956       -.1 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          27.5         477.6        .3      784       3.3 
    Information..............................           2.5          58.6      -3.0    1,275      -2.8 
    Financial activities.....................          15.5         219.5        .4    1,433       2.9 
    Professional and business services.......          27.6         441.4       2.5    1,135       -.1 
    Education and health services............          13.2         363.4       1.8      813       1.0 
    Leisure and hospitality..................          11.3         236.1       2.0      411       2.2 
    Other services...........................          13.4          93.8      -1.9      670       1.1 
  Government.................................           1.2         311.5       -.8      (6)       (6) 
                                                                                                       
New York, NY.................................         116.2       2,292.3       1.9    1,421        .3 
  Private industry...........................         115.9       1,852.5       2.4    1,519        .9 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .0           0.1      -7.3    1,571      15.5 
    Construction.............................           2.2          32.4       5.1    1,395       2.0 
    Manufacturing............................           3.0          38.9      -7.5    1,105       2.2 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          21.3         241.0       1.2    1,081       1.1 
    Information..............................           4.2         132.4        .5    1,825       2.9 
    Financial activities.....................          17.8         369.7       3.2    2,619        .7 
    Professional and business services.......          23.2         464.3       2.9    1,637        .7 
    Education and health services............           8.3         276.2       1.5      967       -.9 
    Leisure and hospitality..................          10.7         198.8       2.1      685       -.3 
    Other services...........................          16.8          85.3       1.2      855       4.3 
  Government.................................            .2         439.9       -.5    1,010      -4.6 
                                                                                                       
Harris, TX...................................          92.7       1,959.1       4.2      950       2.0 
  Private industry...........................          92.3       1,708.2       4.5      960       1.6 
    Natural resources and mining.............           1.4          73.7      10.7    2,286      -6.3 
    Construction.............................           6.3         142.0       7.1      917       6.3 
    Manufacturing............................           4.6         178.4       5.5    1,204       1.4 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          21.2         409.4       3.4      846       1.7 
    Information..............................           1.3          31.9        .7    1,169       1.0 
    Financial activities.....................          10.1         117.4        .2    1,182       5.2 
    Professional and business services.......          18.0         320.2       5.1    1,074       1.4 
    Education and health services............           9.7         204.0       3.6      812        .9 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           7.0         170.1       4.3      358        .6 
    Other services...........................          10.6          56.0       1.4      551        .7 
  Government.................................            .4         250.9       2.1      878       4.9 
                                                                                                       
Maricopa, AZ.................................          92.3       1,819.1       4.4      792        .5 
  Private industry...........................          91.7       1,605.4       4.8      779       -.4 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .5           8.1       2.2      682      12.9 
    Construction.............................           9.5         177.8       5.9      804       1.4 
    Manufacturing............................           3.4         136.9       2.3    1,082        .6 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          19.7         366.7       4.1      750      -1.8 
    Information..............................           1.5          31.3      -1.3    1,024       3.7 
    Financial activities.....................          11.3         150.3       2.7    1,027       -.1 
    Professional and business services.......          19.9         316.8       5.8      756       -.4 
    Education and health services............           8.9         188.6       6.2      835       -.4 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           6.4         174.0       4.2      368      -1.6 
    Other services...........................           6.4          47.8       3.0      550        .5 
  Government.................................            .6         213.7       1.2      897       7.3 
                                                                                                       
Orange, CA...................................          95.9       1,517.9       1.1      897      -1.1 
  Private industry...........................          94.5       1,378.8       1.2      893      -1.0 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .2           5.1     -16.5      636       1.4 
    Construction.............................           7.1         111.0       3.7      972       1.1 
    Manufacturing............................           5.6         183.4        .5    1,083       2.4 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          17.9         271.2        .2      826        .2 
    Information..............................           1.4          31.1      -2.3    1,199      -3.5 
    Financial activities.....................          11.5         137.0      -5.1    1,381      -5.9 
    Professional and business services.......          19.4         280.4       3.7      931        .1 
    Education and health services............           9.9         138.9       4.8      849        .4 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           7.1         172.2       3.0      387        .0 
    Other services...........................          14.4          48.5      -1.7      549        .5 
  Government.................................           1.4         139.0        .3      938      -1.6 
                                                                                                       
Dallas, TX...................................          67.0       1,466.0       2.7      961       2.2 
  Private industry...........................          66.5       1,306.9       3.0      969       2.1 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .6           7.4       3.4    3,640      48.6 
    Construction.............................           4.3          80.4       2.4      877       2.5 
    Manufacturing............................           3.2         148.8       2.0    1,099      -3.9 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          14.8         303.9       1.4      907       1.8 
    Information..............................           1.7          52.7      -2.0    1,300       2.9 
    Financial activities.....................           8.5         140.8       3.3    1,285       6.4 
    Professional and business services.......          14.0         263.3       4.4    1,050       2.2 
    Education and health services............           6.4         139.2       4.1      876      -1.9 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           5.1         128.1       4.6      436       3.1 
    Other services...........................           6.4          38.9       1.2      608        .7 
  Government.................................            .4         159.1        .3      894       3.4 
                                                                                                       
San Diego, CA................................          92.5       1,321.7        .9      850       -.7 
  Private industry...........................          91.0       1,106.4        .9      832       -.8 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .8          11.6      -1.6      527        .6 
    Construction.............................           7.3          95.0        .7      877      -1.7 
    Manufacturing............................           3.3         103.6       -.7    1,112       1.6 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          14.6         220.1        .4      695       -.3 
    Information..............................           1.3          37.1       -.7    1,554     -19.2 
    Financial activities.....................          10.1          83.8       -.8    1,041      -3.5 
    Professional and business services.......          16.6         215.6       1.2    1,052       4.9 
    Education and health services............           8.0         123.5       1.3      816       1.6 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           6.8         160.0       3.5      397       -.3 
    Other services...........................          22.0          56.0       1.2      479       1.3 
  Government.................................           1.5         215.3       1.2      944       -.1 
                                                                                                       
King, WA.....................................          75.6       1,167.1       3.6    1,044       4.7 
  Private industry...........................          75.2       1,015.2       4.2    1,052       4.6 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .4           3.1      -3.7    1,193      17.4 
    Construction.............................           6.6          70.5      11.0      954        .1 
    Manufacturing............................           2.5         112.4      11.5    1,198      -3.5 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          14.7         221.2       1.9      876       2.8 
    Information..............................           1.7          74.0       5.2    2,812      19.4 
    Financial activities.....................           6.8          76.0       -.4    1,247       6.5 
    Professional and business services.......          12.4         183.7       5.7    1,095        .3 
    Education and health services............           6.3         118.2       2.3      796        .8 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           5.9         110.8       2.6      423       2.4 
    Other services...........................          17.8          45.2        .0      537       2.7 
  Government.................................            .5         151.9       -.4      984       4.5 
                                                                                                       
Miami-Dade, FL...............................          84.1       1,008.4        .6      792       1.5 
  Private industry...........................          83.8         858.2       1.0      760       1.7 
    Natural resources and mining.............            .5           8.4      -2.6      487       4.1 
    Construction.............................           5.8          53.2      13.6      795       -.9 
    Manufacturing............................           2.6          47.5      -3.2      700      -2.2 
    Trade, transportation, and utilities.....          22.9         249.0       1.7      705       -.8 
    Information..............................           1.6          21.4      -5.4    1,139       3.5 
    Financial activities.....................          10.1          71.3       3.4    1,085        .3 
    Professional and business services.......          16.9         138.2      -5.7      943       7.8 
    Education and health services............           8.6         133.1       3.4      763       1.6 
    Leisure and hospitality..................           5.6          98.4       -.3      450       (6) 
    Other services...........................           7.5          34.5       1.9      490       2.3 
  Government.................................            .3         150.2      -1.4      988       1.6 

   1 Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment Compensation for Federal
Employees (UCFE) programs.
   2 Data are preliminary.
   3 Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic
county reclassifications.  See Technical Note.
   4 Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
   5 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.
   6 Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.





Table 3. Covered (1) establishments, employment, and wages in the largest county by
state, third quarter 2006 (2)
                                                                                   
                                                                                   
                                                Employment         Average weekly  
                                                                       wage (5)    
                          Establishments,                                          
                           third quarter                                           
        County (3)              2006                    Percent            Percent 
                            (thousands)    September    change,  Average   change, 
                                              2006     September  weekly    third  
                                          (thousands) 2005-06 (4)  wage    quarter
                                                                         2005-06 (4)
                                                                                                                                                                      
United States (6)........       8,841.2     134,988.9       1.5     $784       0.9 
                                                                                   
Jefferson, AL............          18.6         374.6       0.8      803       1.0 
Anchorage Borough, AK....           8.2         148.8        .5      849       -.7 
Maricopa, AZ.............          92.3       1,819.1       4.4      792        .5 
Pulaski, AR..............          14.2         249.9       1.9      717       1.3 
Los Angeles, CA..........         392.8       4,161.2        .7      894       1.7 
Denver, CO...............          25.5         436.3       1.7      988       4.1 
Hartford, CT.............          25.0         500.4       2.3      945      -2.3 
New Castle, DE...........          19.6         282.8        .2      957       4.0 
Washington, DC...........          32.0         674.2        .7    1,307       3.6 
Miami-Dade, FL...........          84.1       1,008.4        .6      792       1.5 
                                                                                   
Fulton, GA...............          39.6         777.7       1.3    1,016       1.0 
Honolulu, HI.............          24.0         452.2       2.3      744        .5 
Ada, ID..................          14.7         210.7       4.4      727       1.1 
Cook, IL.................         135.0       2,553.4        .7      928       1.0 
Marion, IN...............          23.6         583.0        .2      814       -.5 
Polk, IA.................          14.4         271.3       2.4      783      -1.0 
Johnson, KS..............          20.0         312.0       3.4      812      -1.6 
Jefferson, KY............          22.5         433.2       1.7      775       (7) 
East Baton Rouge, LA.....          13.8         262.2       2.5      698       7.4 
Cumberland, ME...........          12.0         172.6        .7      711        .3 
                                                                                   
Montgomery, MD...........          32.4         467.1       1.3    1,034        .6 
Middlesex, MA............          47.1         804.6       1.6    1,108       -.3 
Wayne, MI................          33.6         769.1      -2.6      905      -1.5 
Hennepin, MN.............          41.9         841.4        .2      982       -.9 
Hinds, MS................           6.5         128.5       1.3      697       1.3 
St. Louis, MO............          33.7         625.8        .7      825       -.2 
Yellowstone, MT..........           5.5          74.8       1.6      637       3.1 
Douglas, NE..............          15.4         314.5       1.2      734       -.9 
Clark, NV................          46.2         922.5       4.4      751       -.3 
Hillsborough, NH.........          12.5         196.8       -.3      861       1.1 
                                                                                   
Bergen, NJ...............          34.7         450.7        .6      969        .3 
Bernalillo, NM...........          17.0         335.0       3.4      709        .4 
New York, NY.............         116.2       2,292.3       1.9    1,421        .3 
Mecklenburg, NC..........          28.7         544.4       3.5      922       3.1 
Cass, ND.................           5.7          96.2       3.4      649        .2 
Cuyahoga, OH.............          38.1         757.1       -.4      800       -.6 
Oklahoma, OK.............          23.0         424.0       1.5      708       3.2 
Multnomah, OR............          26.8         442.5       3.3      803        .5 
Allegheny, PA............          35.3         683.8        .4      823       1.5 
Providence, RI...........          18.2         291.1        .4      754        .8 
                                                                                   
Greenville, SC...........          13.8         231.6       1.6      684       -.1 
Minnehaha, SD............           6.3         113.4       2.0      668        .6 
Shelby, TN...............          20.1         509.4        .2      814        .0 
Harris, TX...............          92.7       1,959.1       4.2      950       2.0 
Salt Lake, UT............          39.4         572.1       4.6      729       1.4 
Chittenden, VT...........           5.8          96.6       1.1      778       1.8 
Fairfax, VA..............          31.8         576.3       1.7    1,179       -.8 
King, WA.................          75.6       1,167.1       3.6    1,044       4.7 
Kanawha, WV..............           6.1         108.1        .7      676       1.2 
Milwaukee, WI............          21.4         497.2        .1      783        .4 
                                                                                   
Laramie, WY..............           3.1          42.1       2.5      757      19.4 
                                                                                   
San Juan, PR.............          14.8         299.0      -4.3      514       1.6 
St. Thomas, VI...........           1.8          22.0      -2.6      644      12.0 

   1 Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
   2 Data are preliminary.
   3 Includes areas not officially designated as counties.  See Technical Note.
   4 Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted
for noneconomic county reclassifications. See Technical Note.
   5 Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
   6 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin
Islands.
   7 Data do not meet BLS or State agency disclosure standards.





Table 4. Covered (1) establishments, employment, and wages by state, 
third quarter 2006 (2)
                                                                                 
                                                                                 
                                                Employment        Average weekly 
                                                                      wage (3)   
                          Establishments,                                        
                           third quarter                                         
          State                 2006                    Percent           Percent
                            (thousands)    September    change,  Average  change,
                                              2006     September  weekly   third 
                                          (thousands)   2005-06    wage   quarter
                                                                          2005-06
                                                                                                                                                                  
United States(4).........       8,841.2     134,988.9       1.5     $784      0.9
                                                                                 
Alabama..................         117.3       1,938.9       1.6      682      1.9
Alaska...................          21.1         324.8       1.4      798       .1
Arizona..................         150.6       2,629.0       4.2      753      1.1
Arkansas.................          81.9       1,183.9       1.5      603       .7
California...............       1,270.4      15,655.0       1.5      892       .6
Colorado.................         176.9       2,260.1       2.2      819      1.4
Connecticut..............         111.9       1,680.7       1.6      957      -.9
Delaware.................          30.2         424.6       0.5      850      3.4
District of Columbia.....          32.0         674.2        .7    1,307      3.6
Florida..................         588.1       7,941.7       1.9      713       .7
                                                                                 
Georgia..................         264.5       4,039.3       2.0      752       .5
Hawaii...................          37.4         621.2       2.3      722      1.1
Idaho....................          55.3         661.2       4.1      613      1.3
Illinois.................         350.2       5,883.6       1.1      831       .7
Indiana..................         155.4       2,922.7        .3      687      -.3
Iowa.....................          92.8       1,480.7       1.2      641       .0
Kansas...................          85.6       1,347.3       2.4      662       .6
Kentucky.................         110.7       1,795.1        .9      656       .6
Louisiana................         122.5       1,835.7       3.7      683      7.1
Maine....................          49.4         610.2        .6      636       .8
                                                                                 
Maryland.................         161.5       2,545.0        .7      858       .5
Massachusetts............         208.8       3,228.1        .9      950       .3
Michigan.................         261.0       4,278.9      -1.8      790       .3
Minnesota................         165.5       2,685.1        .0      784      -.6
Mississippi..............          69.1       1,134.3       2.9      585      2.1
Missouri.................         172.1       2,725.1       1.1      691       .0
Montana..................          41.4         434.4       2.3      581      3.0
Nebraska.................          57.8         906.9       1.1      633       .0
Nevada...................          72.4       1,287.6       3.7      751       .0
New Hampshire............          48.9         634.9        .6      774       .3
                                                                                 
New Jersey...............         279.8       3,984.7        .7      931       .3
New Mexico...............          52.6         826.1       4.4      654      4.0
New York.................         573.2       8,471.7        .8      950      1.1
North Carolina...........         241.5       3,982.6       1.8      700      1.6
North Dakota.............          24.7         342.2       2.0      589      1.4
Ohio.....................         291.7       5,350.9       -.1      725       .3
Oklahoma.................          97.3       1,517.6       2.2      633      3.3
Oregon...................         128.6       1,729.2       2.7      719       .7
Pennsylvania.............         335.9       5,644.8        .8      768       .5
Rhode Island.............          36.0         490.8        .8      763      3.7
                                                                                 
South Carolina...........         132.4       1,866.0       1.8      642      1.1
South Dakota.............          29.8         389.6       2.1      571       .7
Tennessee................         137.1       2,761.1       1.4      698      1.2
Texas....................         536.7      10,019.0       3.6      786      2.5
Utah.....................          88.1       1,188.7       4.8      660      2.0
Vermont..................          24.7         305.8        .6      672      1.4
Virginia.................         220.0       3,649.5       1.0      815      -.1
Washington...............         214.5       2,911.9       3.3      823      2.7
West Virginia............          48.2         711.8       1.2      599      1.7
Wisconsin................         161.8       2,800.8        .5      687       .1
                                                                                 
Wyoming..................          24.1         274.1       4.6      706     10.0
                                                                                 
Puerto Rico..............          60.6       1,020.9      -1.9      439      1.2
Virgin Islands...........           3.4          43.2      -2.0      692     12.5

   1 Includes workers covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI) and Unemployment
Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) programs.
   2 Data are preliminary.
   3 Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.
   4 Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the
Virgin Islands.