Three of Connecticut’s four large counties reported employment and wage gains from December 2011 to December 2012, according to the New England Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And Fairfield County was one of the top in the nation in wages paid.
Hartford and New Haven counties saw the largest increase in employment, up 1.2 % each. Fairfield County reported an employment gain of 1.0%.
Statewide employment grew at a rate of 1.0% while the national rate of employment growth was 1.9%.
Nationally, employment increased 1.9% from December 2011 to December 2012. Across the nation, employment increased in 287 of the 328 largest counties from December 2011 to December 2012.
Among the large counties in Connecticut, employment was highest in Hartford County (499,883) in December 2012. Together Connecticut’s large counties accounted for 84.5% of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the large counties made up 71.3% of total United States employment.
All four large counties in the state recorded increases in average weekly wages from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the fourth quarter of 2012.
Fairfield County recorded the largest increase, up 6.8%, while New London posted the smallest increase, up 1.5%. Statewide, average weekly wages rose by 5.3% over the year.
Fairfield County’s wage increase of 6.8% ranked 26th among the 328 largest U.S. counties.
Fairfield County had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $1,704 and ranked fifth among the 328 large counties nationwide.
Hartford ($1,210) and New Haven ($1,034) joined Fairfield with average weekly wages above the nationwide average of $1,000.
Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 4.7% over the year to $1,000 in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2011 annual average employment.
The data are derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which obtains data from unemployment insurance summaries.
Written by Mark Maggi of the Bureau of Labor Statistics