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Thursday, April 30, 2015
Workers in the Olympia Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $22.86 in May 2014, about 1 percent above 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 8 of the 22 major occupational groups, including healthcare support; protective service; and construction and extraction. Eight groups had significantly lower wages than their respective national averages, including management; legal; and business and financial operations.
When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 5 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations; computer and mathematical; and life, physical, and social science. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including production; transportation and material moving; and construction and extraction. (See table A and box note at end of release.)
Major occupational group | Percent of total employment | Mean hourly wage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Olympia | United States | Olympia | Percent difference (1) | |
Total, all occupations | 100.0% | 100.0% | $22.71 | $22.86 | 1 |
Management | 5.0 | 5.1 | 54.08 | 45.94* | -15 |
Business and financial operations | 5.1 | 9.6* | 34.81 | 29.55* | -15 |
Computer and mathematical | 2.8 | 4.6* | 40.37 | 35.93* | -11 |
Architecture and engineering | 1.8 | 1.5* | 39.19 | 34.56* | -12 |
Life, physical, and social science | 0.8 | 1.9* | 33.69 | 30.73* | -9 |
Community and social services | 1.4 | 1.5 | 21.79 | 23.04* | 6 |
Legal | 0.8 | 0.8 | 48.61 | 41.37* | -15 |
Education, training, and library | 6.2 | 7.5 | 25.10 | 22.59* | -10 |
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media | 1.3 | 1.6* | 26.82 | 23.79 | -11 |
Healthcare practitioner and technical | 5.8 | 5.1* | 36.54 | 38.42 | 5 |
Healthcare support | 2.9 | 2.5* | 13.86 | 17.49* | 26 |
Protective service | 2.4 | 1.5* | 21.14 | 23.65* | 12 |
Food preparation and serving related | 9.1 | 8.8 | 10.57 | 11.97* | 13 |
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance | 3.2 | 2.6* | 12.68 | 13.36* | 5 |
Personal care and service | 3.1 | 2.9 | 12.01 | 13.42* | 12 |
Sales and related | 10.5 | 11.5* | 18.59 | 16.71* | -10 |
Office and administrative support | 16.0 | 16.2 | 17.08 | 17.55 | 3 |
Farming, fishing, and forestry | 0.3 | 0.3* | 12.09 | 19.68* | 63 |
Construction and extraction | 3.9 | 2.9* | 22.40 | 24.05* | 7 |
Installation, maintenance, and repair | 3.9 | 3.2* | 21.74 | 22.19 | 2 |
Production | 6.6 | 2.7* | 17.06 | 16.69 | -2 |
Transportation and material moving | 6.8 | 5.5* | 16.57 | 16.83 | 2 |
Footnotes: |
One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Olympia had 9,460 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 9.6 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 5.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $29.55, significantly below the national wage of $34.81.
Some of the largest detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators (900), management analysts (780), and human resources specialists (600). Among the higher paying jobs were personal financial advisors and labor relations specialists, with mean hourly wages of $50.23 and $34.09, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were meeting, convention, and event planners ($20.56) and training and development specialists ($23.59). (Detailed occupational data for business and financial operations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2014/may/oes_36500.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 Olympia Metropolitan Statistical Area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the business and financial operations group. For instance, claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators were employed at 4.7 times the national rate in Olympia, and budget analysts, at 3.4 times the U.S. average. On the other hand, loan officers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Olympia, 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 Olympia Metropolitan Statistical Area included 1,313 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 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 Olympia, Wash. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Thurston 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) | |
Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 9,460 | 1.9 | $29.55 | $61,460 |
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products | 50 | 0.7 | 27.00 | 56,150 |
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products | 320 | 1.5 | 27.24 | 56,650 |
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators | 900 | 4.7 | 26.99 | 56,130 |
Compliance Officers | (5) | (5) | 27.56 | 57,320 |
Cost Estimators | 90 | 0.6 | 24.88 | 51,760 |
Human Resources Specialists | 600 | 1.8 | 27.69 | 57,600 |
Labor Relations Specialists | 130 | 2.2 | 34.09 | 70,920 |
Management Analysts | 780 | 1.8 | 29.93 | 62,260 |
Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners | 60 | 1.1 | 20.56 | 42,760 |
Fundraisers | 40 | 1.1 | 24.75 | 51,480 |
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists | 90 | 1.5 | 25.12 | 52,250 |
Training and Development Specialists | 110 | 0.6 | 23.59 | 49,060 |
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists | 220 | 0.7 | 28.60 | 59,480 |
Business Operations Specialists, All Other | 910 | 1.3 | 30.69 | 63,830 |
Accountants and Auditors | (5) | (5) | 31.19 | 64,870 |
Budget Analysts | 140 | 3.4 | 31.13 | 64,750 |
Personal Financial Advisors | 80 | 0.5 | 50.23 | 104,470 |
Loan Officers | 210 | 1.0 | 31.83 | 66,210 |
Financial Specialists, All Other | 50 | 0.5 | 29.53 | 61,420 |
Footnotes: |
Last Modified Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015