Providence County leads state in wage gain, but still lags nation in job growth

PROVIDENCE COUNTY was the only Rhode Island County that had an average weekly wage at the end of June 2016 that was higher than the national average, $993 versus $989. / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
PROVIDENCE COUNTY was the only Rhode Island County that had an average weekly wage at the end of June 2016 that was higher than the national average, $993 versus $989. / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

PROVIDENCE – While Providence County fell behind the nation for employment growth from June 2015 to June 2016, wages rose at a pace ahead of the rest of the United States for the period, according to the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The average weekly wage measure in Providence County reached $993 in the second quarter of 2016, a 3.4 percent increase on the average a year earlier and the 73rd-highest increase among the nation’s 344 largest counties. The nation saw a 2.2 percent climb in the average weekly wage. Rhode Island, including all five counties – Providence as well as Bristol, Kent, Newport and Washington – saw a 2.5 percent increase in average weekly wages over the period.

However, while Providence County’s average weekly wage of $993 stood above the national average of $989 (ranked at No. 99 in the U.S.), the rest of the state fell below that level. Newport County led the rest of the state’s small counties, with average weekly wages of $910, followed by Kent, with $858, Washington, with $831, and Bristol, with $793.

The highest average weekly wage in the nation was registered in Santa Clara County, Calif., at $2,252, while the highest gain, 21 percent, occurred in McLean County, Ill. And while 304 counties saw wage gains over the year, four remained the same and 36 saw declines, led by Ventura County, Calif., with a loss of 8.4 percent.

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Providence was one of 291 of the 344 largest counties (those with employment of 75,000 or more as of June 2015) that showed a gain in employment over the 12-month period of 0.1 percent, registering 285,132 workers by June 2016, a rank of No. 287 in the nation.

Overall, Rhode Island saw a 0.6 percent gain in employment year over year, although the U.S. posted a 1.5 percent gain in jobs to 142.7 million. The largest employment gain came in Williamson County, Tenn., at 6.7 percent, while the largest percentage decline came in Midland County, Texas, at 8.3 percent.

As of the end of the second quarter of 2016, Rhode Island employed 482,925 people. Aside from Providence County, the rest of the state employed the following number of people:

  • Kent County: 75, 692
  • Washington County: 55,155
  • Newport County: 41,087
  • Bristol County: 14,011

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