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News Release Information

16-1352-NEW
Friday, July 01, 2016

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (646) 264-3623

Occupational Employment and Wages in Nassau County-Suffolk County — May 2015

Workers in the Nassau County-Suffolk County Metropolitan Division had an average (mean) hourly wage of $26.82 in May 2015, about 15 percent above the nationwide average of $23.23, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 16 of the 22 major occupational groups, including management; construction and extraction; and healthcare practitioners and technical. No group had an hourly wage significantly lower than its respective national average.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 9 of the 22 occupational groups, including office and administrative support; education, training, and library; and personal care and service. Conversely, 12 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and food preparation and serving related. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

Table A. Occupational employment and wages by major occupational group, United States and the Nassau County-Suffolk County Metropolitan Division, and measures of statistical significance, May 2015
Major occupational groupPercent of total employmentMean hourly wage
United StatesNassau County-Suffolk CountyUnited StatesNassau County-Suffolk CountyPercent difference (1)

Total, all occupations

100.0%100.0%$23.23$26.82*15

Management

5.04.6*55.3067.83*23

Business and Financial Operations

5.14.2*35.4839.54*11

Computer and Mathematical

2.91.9*41.4341.280

Architecture and Engineering

1.81.2*39.8939.61-1

Life, Physical, and Social Science

0.80.8*34.2435.243

Community and Social Service

1.41.3*22.1927.31*23

Legal

0.81.0*49.7448.09-3

Education, Training, and Library

6.28.2*25.4832.41*27

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

1.31.2*27.3928.966

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

5.86.4*37.4046.05*23

Healthcare Support

2.93.3*14.1917.08*20

Protective Service

2.42.421.4526.85*25

Food Preparation and Serving Related

9.17.9*10.9812.75*16

Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance

3.23.9*13.0216.11*24

Personal Care and Service

3.14.3*12.3313.58*10

Sales and Related

10.511.0*18.9021.41*13

Office and Administrative Support

15.819.0*17.4720.04*15

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

0.3(2)*12.6713.406

Construction and Extraction

4.04.8*22.8832.01*40

Installation, Maintenance, and Repair

3.93.4*22.1125.20*14

Production

6.64.0*17.4118.69*7

Transportation and Material Moving

6.95.4*16.9019.24*14

Footnotes:
(1) A positive percent difference measures how much the mean wage in Nassau County-Suffolk County is above the national mean wage, while a negative difference reflects a lower wage.
(2) Indicates a value of less than 0.05 percent
* The percent share of employment or mean hourly wage for this area is significantly different from the national average of all areas at the 90-percent confidence level.
 

One occupational group—personal care and service—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Nassau County-Suffolk County had 55,080 jobs in personal care and service, accounting for 4.3 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 3.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $13.58, significantly above the national wage of $12.33.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the personal care and service group included personal care aides (23,270), childcare workers (6,280), and recreation workers (4,080). Among the higher-paying jobs were morticians, undertakers, and funeral directors and fitness trainers and aerobics instructors, with mean hourly wages of $34.11 and $26.07, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were shampooers ($9.88) and manicurists and pedicurists ($9.94). (Detailed occupational data for personal care and service are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/oes_35004.htm .)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Nassau County-Suffolk County Metropolitan Division, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the personal care and service group. For instance, manicurists and pedicurists were employed at 4.0 times the national rate in Nassau County-Suffolk County, and personal care aides, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, amusement and recreation attendants had a location quotient of 1.0 in Nassau County-Suffolk County, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

These statistics are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, a federal-state cooperative program between BLS and State Workforce Agencies, in this case, the New York State Department of Labor.

Notes on Occupational Employment Statistics Data

With the issuance of data for May 2015, the OES program has incorporated redefined metropolitan area definitions as designated by the Office of Management and Budget. OES data are available for 394 metropolitan areas, 38 metropolitan divisions, and 167 OES-defined nonmetropolitan areas. A listing of the areas and their definitions can be found at www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.htm.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.


Technical Note

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey is a semiannual mail survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates for over 800 occupations for all industries combined in the nation; the 50 states and the District of Columbia; 432 metropolitan areas and divisions; 167 nonmetropolitan areas; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National estimates are also available by industry for NAICS sectors, 3-, 4-, and selected 5- and 6-digit industries, and by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 sampled establishments in May and November each year. May 2015 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2015, November 2014, May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, and November 2012. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 73.5 percent based on establishments and 69.6 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.9 percent of total national employment. (Response rates are slightly lower for these estimates due to the federal shutdown in October 2013.) The sample in the Nassau County-Suffolk County Metropolitan Division included 6,280 establishments with a response rate of 76 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

The May 2015 OES estimates are based on the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Information about the 2010 SOC is available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/soc and information about the 2012 NAICS is available at www.bls.gov/bls/naics.htm.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y. Metropolitan Division includes Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/northeast. Answers to frequently asked questions about the OES data are available at www.bls.gov/oes/oes_ques.htm. Detailed technical information about the OES survey is available in our Survey Methods and Reliability Statement on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/oes/2015/may/methods_statement.pdf.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 800-877-8339.

Table 1. Employment and wage data from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, by occupation, Nassau County-Suffolk County Metropolitan Division, May 2015
Occupation (1)EmploymentMean wages
Level (2)Location quotient (3)HourlyAnnual (4)

Personal Care and Service Occupations

55,0801.4$13.58$28,240

Gaming Supervisors

400.223.5048,880

First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers

2,1601.322.0645,880

Animal Trainers

2101.922.1246,010

Nonfarm Animal Caretakers

2,7401.712.6726,360

Gaming and Sports Book Writers and Runners

4003.515.1031,410

Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers

6400.611.1623,210

Amusement and Recreation Attendants

2,4701.011.2923,480

Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants

2501.613.3127,690

Funeral Attendants

(5)(5)13.3527,770

Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Directors

1900.834.1170,950

Barbers

(5)(5)10.0820,970

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists

4,0701.312.4025,800

Manicurists and Pedicurists

3,0604.09.9420,670

Shampooers

3602.69.8820,550

Skincare Specialists

6301.723.5949,080

Baggage Porters and Bellhops

(5)(5)11.4523,820

Concierges

1400.515.9033,060

Tour Guides and Escorts

2100.613.8928,890

Childcare Workers

6,2801.213.5928,270

Personal Care Aides

23,2701.812.5026,000

Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors

1,6600.826.0754,230

Recreation Workers

4,0801.313.6828,460

Residential Advisors

7000.716.9135,170

Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other

1300.216.3734,060

Footnotes:
(1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Metropolitan Division, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_35004.htm.
(2) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.
(3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average.
(4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a “year-round, full-time” hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.
(5) Estimate not released.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 01, 2016