October 2009 

Occupational Employment 

Statistics (OES) Highlights

Occupational employment patterns in areas with 

low unemployment rates 

In August 2009, there were fewer than ten metropolitan areas in the United States 

with unemployment rates below five percent.1

 As unemployment began rising in the 

Chart 1: Employment Distribution in the United States and the Rapid

City, SD, Metropolitan Area by Occupational Group, May 2008

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

Management

Business and financial operations

Computer and mathematical science

Architecture and engineering

Life, physical, and socialscience

Community and social services

Legal

Education, training, and library

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

Healthcare practitioner and technical

Healthcare support

Protective service

Food preparation and serving related

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

Personal care and service

Sales and related

Office and administrative support

Farming, fishing, and forestry

Construction and extraction

Installation, maintenance, and repair

Production

Transportation and material moving

Percent of employment

U.S.

Rapid City, SD
2

rest of the country, occupational employment and wages in these areas differed from 

that of the U.S. For example, these areas generally had higher concentrations of 

employment in healthcare practitioner and technical, food preparation and serving, 

sales and related, and construction and extraction occupations. They generally had 

lower employment shares of computer and mathematical science; architecture and 

engineering; legal; education, training, and library; and protective service 

occupations. All had average wage rates below the national average. 

The employment distribution in Rapid City, SD, shown in chart 1 along with the 

employment distribution in the U.S., illustrates the employment pattern typical of 

these areas. (See page 6 to view the data from chart 1 in table format.) 

Chart 2: Percent of Employment for Construction Occupations in Low

Unemployment Areas, May 2008

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

U.S.

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Bismarck, ND

Fargo, ND‐MN

Lincoln, NE

Rapid City, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

Logan, UT‐ID

Percent of Employment

(See page 7 to view these data in table format.) 

Seven out of the eight areas had higher concentrations of employment and lower 

wages in construction occupations. (See chart 2.) Construction occupations made up 

almost six percent of employment in these eight areas combined, compared with a 

little less than five percent nationally. Carpenters were the largest contributor to 

these high employment concentrations, accounting for the largest difference in 
3

employment shares among construction occupations in six of the eight areas. Mean 

wages for construction workers were below the national average in all eight areas, 

ranging from 15 percent lower in Fargo, ND-MN, to 34 percent lower in Rapid City, 

SD, where the concentration of construction workers was the highest. 

Sales and related occupations accounted for 10.5 percent of employment nationwide, 

but 11.5 percent of employment in the areas with the lowest rates of unemployment. 

All of these areas except Lincoln, NE, had above average concentrations of 

employment in sales and related occupations. Retail salespersons were the largest 

occupation in this group. Mean wages for sales and related occupations ranged from 

two to 40 percent lower than average in these eight areas. 

Chart 3: Percent of Employment for Protective Service Occupations in Low

Unemployment Areas, May 2008

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

U.S.

Billings, MT

Great Falls, MT

Bismarck, ND

Fargo, ND‐MN

Lincoln, NE

Rapid City, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

Logan, UT‐ID

Percent of Employment

(See page 7 to view these data in table format.) 

All eight areas had below average employment shares of protective service 

occupations. (See chart 3.) Protective service occupations made up only 1.5 percent 

of employment in the eight areas with the lowest unemployment rates combined, 

compared to 2.3 percent of U.S. employment. This difference was largely due to 

relatively low employment concentrations of security guards. Although mean wages 
4

for protective service occupations were lower than the national average in all eight 

areas, the wage difference was not as great for this occupational group as for other 

groups. 

Education, training, and library occupations accounted for about 6.3 percent of U.S. 

employment, and about 5.4 percent of the combined employment in the eight areas. 

Logan, UT-ID, a university town, was an exception, with 9.3 percent of employment 

in education, training, and library occupations. Mean wages for education, training, 

and library jobs were again lower than the national average, but in six of the eight 

areas, the wage difference was smaller than for other occupational groups. 

Employment concentrations in office and administrative support and production 

occupations showed high variability among the areas. On average, production 

occupations had lower employment shares in these areas than in the U.S. Great 

Falls, MT, had less that half the average employment concentration, while Logan, 

UT-ID, had more the double the average share of employment in production 

occupations. Six of the areas had lower shares of employment in production 

occupations than did the U.S. Mean wages for production occupations in the eight 

areas were much closer to the U.S. average wage than most of the occupational 

groups. Billings, MT, and Bismarck, ND, had higher mean wages for production 

workers than the national average. 

The share of office and administrative support workers in the eight areas overall was 

1.3 percentage points higher than their share of U.S employment. However, three 

areas had below average concentrations of employment in this group. Mean wages 

for office and administrative support workers were at least nine percent below the 

national average. 

Data on local area unemployment rates come from the Local Area Unemployment 

Statistics program at www.bls.gov/lau/; national unemployment rates are available 

from the Current Population Survey (www.bls.gov/cps/). Complete OES data, 

including occupational employment and wages for the eight low unemployment 
5

areas, can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/. This highlight was prepared by Ben Cover; 

for more information, please contact the OES program at 

www.bls.gov/oes/home.htm#contact. 

 

 

1

 This highlight focuses on the eight areas with August 2009 unemployment rates 

below five percent for which May 2008 OES data were available: Billings, MT; Great 

Falls, MT; Bismarck, ND; Fargo, ND-MN; Lincoln, NE; Rapid City, SD; Sioux Falls, 

SD; and Logan, UT-ID. No OES data were available for Manhattan, KS, which also 

had an August 2009 unemployment rate below five percent.
6

Table 1. Employment distribution in the United States and the Rapid City, 

SD, Metropolitan Area by Occupational Group, May 2008 

Occupational group U.S. 

employment 

Percent of 

total U.S. 

employment 

Rapid City, 

SD, 

employment 

Percent of total 

Rapid City, SD, 

employment 

Management 6,152,650 4.6 1,530 2.5 

Business and financial 

operations 6,135,520 4.5 1,980 3.3 

Computer and 

mathematical science 3,308,260 2.4 670 1.1 

Architecture and 

engineering 2,521,630 1.9 730 1.2 

Life, physical, and social 

science 1,296,840 1.0 650 1.1 

Community and social 

services 1,861,750 1.4 920 1.5 

Legal 1,003,270 0.7 250 0.4 

Education, training, and 

library 8,451,250 6.3 3,140 5.2 

Arts, design, 

entertainment, sports, 

and media 

1,804,940 1.3 810 1.3 

Healthcare practitioner 

and technical 7,076,800 5.2 4,090 6.8 

Healthcare support 3,779,280 2.8 1,400 2.3 

Protective service 3,128,960 2.3 1,090 1.8 

Food preparation and 

serving related 11,438,550 8.5 6,290 10.5 

Building and grounds 

cleaning and 

maintenance 

4,429,870 3.3 2,810 4.7 

Personal care and service 3,437,520 2.5 1,870 3.1 

Sales and related 14,336,430 10.6 7,380 12.3 

Office and administrative 

support 23,231,750 17.2 10,250 17.1 

Farming, fishing, and 

forestry 438,490 0.3 170 0.3 

Construction and 

extraction 6,548,760 4.8 4,520 7.5 

Installation, maintenance, 

and repair 5,374,850 4.0 2,760 4.6 

Production 9,919,120 7.3 2,750 4.6 

Transportation and 

material moving 9,508,750 7.0 4,060 6.8 

Total, all occupations 135,185,230 100.0 60,110 100.0 
7

Table 2. Employment of Construction and Extraction and Protective Service 

Occupations in Low Unemployment Areas and the United States, May 2008 

Area 

Employment 

of 

construction 

and extraction 

occupations 

Percent of 

total area 

employment 

Employment 

of protective 

service 

occupations 

Percent of 

total area 

employment 

Billings, MT 5,330 6.4 1,140 1.4 

Great Falls, MT 2,010 5.6 720 2.0 

Bismarck, ND 3,360 5.6 1,080 1.8 

Fargo, ND-MN 6,610 5.5 1,380 1.2 

Lincoln, NE 7,450 4.5 2,700 1.6 

Rapid City, SD 4,520 7.5 1,090 1.8 

Sioux Falls, SD 6,960 5.2 1,800 1.3 

Logan, UT-ID 2,850 5.8 470 1.0 

United States 6,548,760 4.8 3,128,960 2.3