Ten Largest U.S. Counties
Of the 10 largest U.S. counties (based on 2003 employment levels), 9 reported increases in employment, while 1 showed a decline from June 2003 to June 2004. Orange County, Calif., experienced the fastest growth in employment among the largest counties, with a 3.9 percent increase. Within Orange County, employment rose in every industry group except natural resources and mining, manufacturing, and information. The largest gains were in professional and business services (8.5 percent) and construction (8.3 percent). (See table 2.) Maricopa County, Ariz., had the next largest increase in employment, 3.0 percent, followed by Miami-Dade, Fla., and San Diego, Calif. (1.8 percent each). The only decrease in employment for the 10 largest counties was in Cook County, Ill., a 0.3 percent decline. The next lowest change in employment was recorded in Dallas County, Texas (+0.1 percent) and Harris County, Texas (+0.5 percent).Nine of the 10 largest U.S. counties saw over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. Miami-Dade County, Fla., had the fastest growth in wages among the top 10 counties, 4.2 percent. Within Miami-Dade County, wages increased the most in manufacturing (11.5 percent) and information (9.7 percent). Dallas County, Texas, and New York County, N.Y., were second in wage growth, with gains of 3.9 percent each. The smallest wage gains among the 10 largest counties occurred in Orange County, Calif. (2.9 percent) and Cook County, Ill. (3.0 percent). King County, Wash., experienced the only decline in average weekly wages among the largest 10 counties (-2.0 percent). The information sector posted the largest drop in wages, with a decline of 20.9 percent over the year.
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