All Economics is Local

Census Bureau Reports Number of U.S. Businesses Declines by Nearly 104,000 in 2008

 U.S. businesses with paid employees lost almost 104,000 establishments in 2008, bringing the total number to 7.6 million. However, the total number of people they employed rose to 121 million, with businesses adding approximately 300,000 employees to their payrolls.

These findings come from County Business Patterns: 2008, which provides the only detailed annual information on the number of establishments, employees, and quarterly and annual payroll for most of the 1,100 industries covered at the national, state and county levels. US Census Bureau

Occupational Pay Comparisons Among Metropolitan Areas

Average pay for civilian workers in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 20 percent above the national average in 2009, one of 77 metropolitan areas studied by the National Compensation Survey (NCS).  The Brownsville-Harlingen, TX metropolitan area had a pay relative of 79, meaning workers earned an average of 79 cents for every dollar earned by workers nationwide. Bureau of Labor Statistics  (PDF)

County Employment & Wages 2009 4Q

From December 2008 to December 2009, employment declined in 325 of the 334 largest U.S. counties. Trumbull, Ohio, posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 8.6 percent over the year, compared with a national job decrease of 4.1 percent.

Average weekly wages for the nation increased by 2.5 percent over the year ending in the fourth quarter of 2009. Among the 334 largest counties, 305 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the fourth quarter. The largest wage gain occurred in Douglas, Colo. US Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Kiplinger's Best Cities 2010

Using a formula that identifies cities with current and likely future growth in high-quality jobs and income, also weighed affordability and public-transit infrastructure --plus a measurement of the "creative class." Kiplinger

Experian Ranks Top 20 Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas by Average Debt Per Consumer

Ranking of the average debt per consumer in the top 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas. Approximately 65 percent of these areas exceeded the national average consumer debt, which was $24,775 in March. Within the top 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas, Seattle is the most debt-burdened city, coming in at almost $2,000 above the national average debt per consumer, while Los Angeles has the lowest average debt. Experian Press Release

The State of Metropolitan America

The State of Metropolitan America uses data to show that our nation faces five "new realities," currently redefining the country. In each of these five areas, the nation reached critical milestones in the 2000s that make those underlying realities too large to ignore any longer. And large metropolitan areas—the collections of cities, suburbs, and rural areas that house two-thirds of America’s population—lay squarely on the front lines of those trends. Brookings

Local Area Personal Income, 2008

The percent change from 2007 to 2008 in county personal income ranged from -48 percent in Slope County, North Dakota to 54 percent in Faulk County, South Dakota with growth slowing in more than two-thirds of the counties. For the nation, personal income grew 2.9 percent in 2008 after growing 5.5 percent in 2007. A surge in farm income accounted for the bulk of the growth in 29 of the 31 fastest growing counties as they continued to rebound from sharp mid-decade declines in farm income. Bureau of Economic Analysis

County Employment and Wages 3Q 2009

From September 2008 to September 2009, employment declined in 329 of the 334 largest U.S. counties according to preliminary data. The U.S. average weekly wage fell over the year by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2009. This is the first time there has been an over-the-year average weekly wage decline for three consecutive quarters, and this decline is one of only five declines dating back to 1978, when these quarterly data were first comparable. US Bureau Labor Statistics

Looking at Winners, Losers in Federal Government Spending

Breakdown by community types where the government distributes money across U.S. counties. PBS NewsHour patchwork nation

The Suburbanization of Poverty: Trends in Metropolitan America, 2000 to 2008

Between 2000 and 2008, suburbs in the country’s largest metro areas saw their poor population grow by 25 percent—almost five times faster than primary cities and well ahead of the growth seen in smaller metro areas and non-metropolitan communities. As a result, by 2008 large suburbs were home to 1.5 million more poor than their primary cities and housed almost one-third of the nation’s poor overall. Brookings

County Employment & Wages: 2Q 2009

From June 2008 to June 2009, employment declined in 324 of the 334 largest U.S. counties according to preliminary data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Bureau of Labor Statistics

County Compensation by Industry, 2008

Compensation grew in over 80 percent of the 3,112 counties in the U.S., as the average annual compensation per job in the U.S. grew by 2.6 percent to $56,116. Total compensation of U.S. workers grew 2.3 percent in 2008, as net job losses partially offset compensation growth. Inflation measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, grew 3.3 percent. Bureau Economic Analysis

Cities Where Americans Are Getting Richer

Payscale.com studied the compensation of college graduates for which it had data--about 1.5 million people--in the 100 most populous metro areas in the country. It ranked metros on the compounded income growth between December 2005 and December 2009 to arrive at the cities where Americans are getting richer. Forbes

County Employment & Wages: 1st Quarter 2009

From March 2008 to March 2009, employment declined in 323 of the 334 largest U.S. counties according to preliminary data, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Elkhart County, Ind., located about 100 miles east of Chicago, posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 23.4 percent over the year,compared with a national job decrease of 4.2 percent.

The U.S.average weekly wage fell by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009. This is the largest over-the-year decline in U.S. average weekly wages dating back to 1978, when these quarterly data were first comparable.  The financial activities supersector sustained the largest decline in average weekly wages, with a decrease of 15.9 percent. Total wages for this industry fell by $37.9 billion over the year. US Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Young and Moneyed Dwell in D.C.

A new demographic spotlight finds that 16 of the top 50 counties where the highest concentration of the young and wealthy live are in the Washington D.C. area. This demographic—those aged 25-34 who are making over $100,000 annually—is also prevalent in the high-density areas of San Francisco, New York City and Chicago. Nielsen Co.

Best U.S. Cities To Earn A Living

It's no secret that, in general, jobs are tight: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Aug. 7 that non-farm payroll employment sank further in July, and unemployment is entrenched at 9.4%. But some job markets manage to remain healthier due to one or more factors, like a concentration of top companies a resulting prospective annual jump in job growth. Such is the case for Texas towns on the list. Forbes

Personal Income for Metropolitan Areas, 2008

Personal income growth slowed in 2008 in most of the nation's metropolitan statistical areas according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income growth slowed in 322 MSAs, increased in 42, and remained unchanged in 2 MSAs. On average, MSA personal income grew 3.3 percent in 2008, down from 6.0 percent in 2007. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Amid Stagnant Wages, Washington Rises More Than Others

A survey of employers in metro areas across the country shows the pain of the employed: Virtually everywhere, employers’ salary budgets have increased less than it was projected in 2008.The average metro-area employer raised the salary budget by only 2.2% this year, 1.7 percentage points less than the expected 3.9% increase, which was also the average actual salary budget raise in 2008 and 2007. Widening salary budgets may reflect pay increases as well as new hires. WorldatWork

BLS RELEASES OCCUPATIONAL 2008 COMPARISONS FOR US METROS

Average pay for civilian workers in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA metropolitan area was 19 percent above the national average in 2008, one of 77 metropolitan areas studied by the National Compensation Survey (NCS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.The Brownsville-Harlingen, TX metropolitan area had a pay relative of 77, meaning workers earned an average of 77 cents for every dollar earned by workers nationwide. Bureau of Labor Statistics

BLS Releases 4Q 2008 County Employment and Wages

From December 2007 to December 2008, employment declined in 285 of the 334 largest U.S. counties, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Of the 334 largest counties in the United States (as measured by 2007 annual average employment) 151 had over-the-year percentage change in employment below the national average (-2.3 percent) in December 2008; 174 large counties experienced changes above the national average. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Pay-Cut Cities

The 10 metro areas where salaries are falling the most, and which towns are bucking the downtrend. Forbes

America's Best Bargain Cities

The report looks at average salary for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher,  annual unemployment statistics; cost of living; and the Housing Opportunity Index, from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo. Austin earned high marks across the board. Forbes

The Wealth of Cities: Edward L. Glaeser

The largest body of evidence supports the view that cities succeed by spurring the transfer of information.  Skilled industries are more likely to locate in urban areas and skills predict urban success.  Workers have steeper age-earnings profiles in cities and city-level human capital strongly predicts income.  It is possible that these effects will be reduced by ongoing improvements in information technology, but that is not certain and has not happened yet. Working Paper

BLS Releases 2008 Occupational Employment and Wages

While both Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, and Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, were among the metropolitan areas with the highest employment of welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers, two other metropolitan areas in Texas--Odessa and Beaumont-Port Arthur--reported some of the highest employment concentrations of this occupation.  Two metropolitan divisions in California-Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine--were among the largest employers of dental assistants, while four of the metropolitan areas with the highest concentrations of dental assistants also were in California.  Naples-Marco Island, Fla., and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas, were among the areas with the highest concentrations of construction and maintenance painters. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2007 County-Level Personal Income Released

Bureau of Economic Analysis released estimates of personal income at the county level for 2007 based on newly available source data. The percent change from 2006 to 2007 in county personal income ranged from -11 percent in McPherson County, Nebraska to 88 percent in Campbell County, South Dakota. For the nation, personal income grew 6.0 percent. A surge in farm income accounted for the bulk of the growth in 29 of the 31 fastest growing counties (the top 1 percent of the nation's counties) as they rebounded from sharp declines in farm income in 2006. Bureau of Economic Analysis

U.S. Cities Where It's Hardest To Get By

These struggling metros have a combination of high unemployment, steep cost of living and low median income. Forbes

BLS Releases 3Q 2008 County Employment & Wage Detail

Of the 334 largest counties in the United States, 139 had over-the-year percentage
change in employment below the national average (-0.8 percent) in September 2008; 178 large counties experienced changes above the national average.

Elkhart County, Ind., posted the largest percentage decline, with a loss of 10.8 percent over the year, compared with a national job decrease of 0.8 percent. Yakima, Wash., experienced the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S., with a gain of 3.2 percent. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics