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Thursday, April 30, 2015
Workers in the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $21.35 in May 2014, about 6 percent below the nationwide average of $22.71, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were higher than their respective national averages in 7 of the 22 major occupational groups, including production; transportation and material moving; and construction and extraction. Ten groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and computer and mathematical.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups, including transportation and material moving; construction and extraction; and production. Conversely, eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including office and administrative support; business and financial operations; and computer and mathematical. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Longview | United States | Longview | Percent difference (1) | |
Total, all occupations | 100.0% | 100.0% | $22.71 | $21.35* | -6 |
Management | 5.0 | 3.6* | 54.08 | 46.55* | -14 |
Business and financial operations | 5.1 | 2.8* | 34.81 | 28.62* | -18 |
Computer and mathematical | 2.8 | 0.7* | 40.37 | 32.51* | -19 |
Architecture and engineering | 1.8 | 0.9* | 39.19 | 36.09* | -8 |
Life, physical, and social science | 0.8 | 0.7 | 33.69 | 28.28* | -16 |
Community and social services | 1.4 | 1.8 | 21.79 | 19.93* | -9 |
Legal | 0.8 | 0.3* | 48.61 | 34.74* | -29 |
Education, training, and library | 6.2 | 6.5* | 25.10 | 22.52* | -10 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media | 1.3 | 0.7* | 26.82 | 18.00* | -33 |
Healthcare practitioner and technical | 5.8 | 5.5 | 36.54 | 38.78 | 6 |
Healthcare support | 2.9 | 2.9 | 13.86 | 14.54 | 5 |
Protective service | 2.4 | 1.3* | 21.14 | 23.69 | 12 |
Food preparation and serving related | 9.1 | 8.8 | 10.57 | 11.36* | 7 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | 3.2 | 3.0 | 12.68 | 13.90* | 10 |
Personal care and service | 3.1 | 3.5 | 12.01 | 12.10 | 1 |
Sales and related | 10.5 | 10.6 | 18.59 | 15.75* | -15 |
Office and administrative support | 16.0 | 13.5* | 17.08 | 17.28 | 1 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry | 0.3 | 1.5* | 12.09 | 22.86* | 89 |
Construction and extraction | 3.9 | 6.6* | 22.40 | 25.44* | 14 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.9 | 5.7* | 21.74 | 23.73* | 9 |
Production | 6.6 | 8.7* | 17.06 | 21.68* | 27 |
Transportation and material moving | 6.8 | 10.4* | 16.57 | 19.99* | 21 |
Footnotes: |
One occupational group—transportation and material moving—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Longview had 3,540 jobs in transportation and material moving, accounting for 10.4 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.8-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $19.99, significantly above the national wage of $16.57.
Some of the largest detailed occupations within the transportation and material moving group included laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand (810), heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (700), and industrial truck and tractor operators (380). Among the higher paying jobs were first-line supervisors of transportation and material-moving machine and vehicle operators, and first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers, and material movers by hand, with mean hourly wages of $36.79 and $27.46, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were driver/sales workers ($10.70) and packers and packagers, hand ($10.82). (Detailed occupational data for transportation and material moving are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_31020.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 Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the transportation and material moving group. For instance, industrial truck and tractor operators were employed at 2.9 times the national rate in Longview, and cleaners of vehicles and equipment, at 2.6 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers by hand had a location quotient of 1.3 in Longview, 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 Washington Employment Security Department.
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.
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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are also surveyed, but their data are not included in the national estimates. 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 2014 estimates are based on responses from six semiannual panels collected over a 3-year period: May 2014, November 2013, May 2013, November 2012, May 2012, and November 2011. The overall national response rate for the six panels is 74.3 percent based on establishments and 70.5 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The unweighted employment of sampled establishments across all six semiannual panels represents approximately 57.1 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 Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area included 720 establishments with a response rate of 77 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.
The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and 821 detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas. In addition, employment and wage estimates for 94 minor groups and 458 broad occupations are available in the national data. OES data by state and metropolitan/nonmetropolitan area are available from www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm and www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcma.htm, respectively.
The May 2014 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.
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 Longview, Wash. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cowlitz County.
Additional information
OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west. 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/2014/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.
Occupation (1) | Employment | Mean wages | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Level (2) | Location quotient (3) | Hourly | Annual (4) | |
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 3,540 | 1.5 | $19.99 | $41,590 |
First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand | 30 | 0.7 | 27.46 | 57,120 |
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators | 100 | 2.1 | 36.79 | 76,520 |
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client | 200 | 1.6 | 15.77 | 32,800 |
Driver/Sales Workers | 140 | 1.3 | 10.70 | 22,250 |
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 700 | 1.7 | 19.87 | 41,340 |
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers | 190 | 0.9 | 19.67 | 40,900 |
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants | 60 | 2.4 | 11.52 | 23,960 |
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators | 380 | 2.9 | 22.00 | 45,760 |
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment | 210 | 2.6 | 15.35 | 31,920 |
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 810 | 1.3 | 20.19 | 41,990 |
Machine Feeders and Offbearers | 120 | 4.5 | 21.48 | 44,680 |
Packers and Packagers, Hand | 240 | 1.4 | 10.82 | 22,510 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015