Wage growth in Westchester County lagged the nation in the second quarter of 2017, but the average weekly wages remained among the highest in the country.
The average weekly pay as of last summer was $1,327, about $69,004 annually, according to a federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. That trailed only Manhattan statewide, where weekly wages were $1,907, or $99,164 annualized.
Nationally, average weekly wages were higher than average in 97 of the largest 346 counties. Santa Clara, California, held the top position among the highest-paid large counties with an average weekly wage of $2,392. San Mateo, Calif. was second at $2,093 followed by San Francisco at $1,941.
Westchester payrolls were ranked 19th nationally and Manhattan”™s were fourth.
Year-over-year wage growth, for the second quarter, was 2.6 percent in Westchester. That lagged the nation”™s 3.2 percent but surpassed the state”™s 2.2 percent rates.
Westchester employment grew by 1.3 percent from June 2016 to June 2017, the BLS study said, to 437,600 jobs. That growth rate trailed the state”™s 1.6 percent and nation”™s 1.7 percent employment growth.
Large New York counties fared better than small counties, the BLS study found.
Six of the 18 large counties recorded weekly wages above the $1,020 national average, or $53,040 annualized. Average wages in all but three of the 44 smaller counties were below the national average.
All 18 large counties saw higher employment levels, and they accounted for 85.5 percent of total state employment.
Weekly wages in other Hudson Valley counties include Dutchess, $1,023 ($53,196 annualized), Putnam, $1,011 ($52,572); Rockland, $989 ($51,428); Orange, $905 ($47,060); Ulster, $829 ($43,108) and Sullivan, $789 ($41,028).
