BLS: Employment, Salary Figures Increase In Oneida County

Oneida County, NY (WIBX) - The Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting an increase in the country's employment numbers. In New York State and including right here in Oneida County, the bureau's report shows that the new figures are positive ones. 

The information coming from the labor group shows a break down of how different counties in the U.S. are doing, and according to the report, most large counties lost jobs over the year, but Oneida County gained jobs. BLS Regional Economist, Martin Kohli said, "Most large counties in the nation lost jobs over the year ending in June but many of the counties in New York did a little better than that."

Kohli said the employment figures for Oneida County show a slight increase of 0.2 percent. "It's not a great number but when most counties are losing jobs and when the nation went through basically horrendous job losses in 2009,  0.2 percent looks better. So, it's perhaps not a great number but it's an improvement over what we've seen in the past, and it's an improvement of what much of the country is doing," said Kohli.

The report also finds that the average weekly wage rate for Oneida County increased 1.8 percent over the year to $695 in the second quarter of 2010, but despite the improvement, it's still below the national average of $865. "The wage number isn't as encouraging as  the employment numbers and when we look at the different industries in Oneida County -- Oneida County seems to have larger than national concentrations of employment in areas like the nursing home industry," Kohli said. He added that the average weekly rate for those in the nursing home industry was $492.

Another factor related to the below average salary the data is reporting is that Oneida County does not have many jobs that provide professional business services such as legal, accounting, architectural and engineering services. "The mix of industries in Oneida County is one of the things, I believe, is keeping its average wage well below the national wage level," Kohli said. He added that the counties with the largest wage increases were those with financial and manufacturing activities.

Overall, according to BLS Commissioner Keith Hall, the unemployment rate declined from 9.4 to 9.0 percent in January. Some officials say that the figures ultimately show that throughout the U.S., the economic recovery is underway, even though it's uneven.