FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
(816) 285-7000

For Release: July 9, 2009

OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES IN
SALT LAKE CITY: MAY 2008 (PDF)

Workers in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $19.52 during May 2008 compared to the nationwide average of $20.32, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were measurably lower than their respective national averages in 13 of the 22 major occupational groups. Only two groups, one of which was sales and related, had significantly higher wages. (For a comprehensive definition of the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area, please see Technical Note.)

When compared to the nationwide distribution, local employment was more highly concentrated in 6 of the 22 occupational groups including office and administrative support, sales and related, and construction and extraction. Conversely, 10 groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation; included in this group were food preparation and serving related and education, training, and library occupations. (See table A and box note at end of release.)

One occupational group, office and administrative support, was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Salt Lake City had 127,520 jobs in office and administrative support accounting for 20.1 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the occupational group's 17.2-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for office and administrative support locally was $14.22, measurably below the national wage of $15.49.

Customer service representatives were the largest occupation within the office and administrative support group with employment of 18,160, followed by general office clerks (14,140), and secretaries, except legal, medical and executive (10,540). Among the higher-paying jobs were desktop publishers averaging $19.93 an hour and production, planning, and expediting clerks at $18.92. At the lower end of the wage scale in office and administrative support were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($9.90) and clerical library assistants ($10.25). (Detailed occupational data for the office and administrative support group are presented in table B; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/2008/may/oes_41620.htm.)

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 Utah Department of Workforce Services. The OES survey provides estimates of employment and hourly and annual wages for wage and salary workers in 22 major occupational groups and up to 801 non-military detailed occupations for the nation, states, metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan divisions, and nonmetropolitan areas.

OES wage and employment data for the 22 major occupational groups in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area were compared to their respective national averages based on statistical significance testing. Only those occupations with wages or employment shares above or below the national wage or share after testing for significance at the 90-percent confidence level meet the criteria. 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. Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands also are surveyed, but their data are not included in this release. OES estimates are constructed from a sample of about 1.2 million establishments. Forms are mailed to approximately 200,000 establishments in May and November of each year for a 3-year period. The nationwide response rate for the May 2008 survey was 78.2 percent based on establishments and 74.3 percent based on employment. The survey included establishments sampled in the May 2008, November 2007, May 2007, November 2006, May 2006, and November 2005 semiannual panels. The sample in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area included 3,691 establishments with a response rate of 75 percent. For more information about OES concepts and methodology, go to www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.tn.htm.

Effective with this news release, the Occupational Employment Statistics program has switched the basis for their industry classification from the 2002 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to the 2007 NAICS. Historical data were not revised.

Metropolitan Statistical Area definition

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, dated December 2005.

Salt Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele Counties in Utah.

Additional information

OES data are available on our regional web page at www.bls.gov/ro7/. If you have additional questions, contact the Mountain-Plains Economic Analysis and Information Office at 816-285-7000. Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Last Modified Date: June 29, 2010

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