|
|
Year
|
Average
Employment
|
Annual
Payoll
|
Average
Weekly
Earnings
|
|
1990
|
2,569,151
|
$51,177,943,462
|
$383.08
|
|
1991
|
2,553,700
|
52,763,872,666
|
397.34
|
|
1992
|
2,611,079
|
57,223,318,382
|
421.45
|
|
1993
|
2,705,178
|
60,627,741,812
|
430.99
|
|
1994
|
2,812,643
|
65,022,828,589
|
444.58
|
|
1995
|
2,905,468
|
69,991,175,446
|
463.26
|
|
1996
|
2,978,369
|
74,917,822,470
|
483.73
|
|
1997
|
3,077,750
|
81,552,436,820
|
509.57
|
|
1998
|
3,145,823
|
88,181,024,398
|
539.06
|
|
1999
|
3,213,882
|
94,449,545,330
|
565.15
|
Special Report
Crunching
the numbers on a decade of growth
Each
year the N.C. Employment Security Commission releases an
inch-thick document full of statistics about practically every
aspect of jobs and wages in the state. It takes the agency
more than a year to compile the statistics, so the most recent
report covers the 1999 year. This year’s report, then, for
the first time provides a rare look at how North Carolina grew
and changed during the decade of the ‘90s. We’ve sorted
through the report and culled out these charts to give you a
glimpse into what the numbers mean.
 The most
impressive statistic relates to the growth in private-sector
employment from 1990 through 1999 (see chart above).
During the decade, the number of people working at jobs
covered by unemployment insurance grew by 644, 731 – or an
increase of just over 25 percent. The annual payroll grew by
more than $43 billion, or nearly 85 percent. The average
weekly paycheck grew by $182.07, or nearly 48 percent. After
adding the $4.9 billion earned by state government workers and
the $2.4 billion earned by federal government workers, the
total payroll in North Carolina in 1999 was $112.1 billion,
according to the ESC report. By the way, state employees
earned an average weekly paycheck of $603.18 in 1999 and
federal workers earned an average weekly paycheck of $745.48
– both substantially higher than in the private sector.
|
Top
10
Counties
|
#
Insured Employer Units
|
Monthly
Average
Employment
|
Total
Insured
Payroll
|
%
of
State Total
|
Average
Weekly Wages
|
Mecklenburg
|
27,463
|
443,924
|
$17,921,235,536
|
18.97
|
$776.35
|
|
Wake
|
21,912
|
304,924
|
9,955,521,404
|
10.54
|
627.87
|
|
Guilford
|
14,607
|
248,936
|
7,863,338,742
|
8.33
|
607.46
|
|
Forsyth
|
8,641
|
161,387
|
5,196,566,915
|
5.50
|
619.22
|
|
Durham
|
6,237
|
146,971
|
6,590,534,399
|
6.98
|
862.35
|
|
Buncombe
|
6,569
|
90,579
|
2,347,216,554
|
2.49
|
498.34
|
|
Catawba
|
4,361
|
90,219
|
2,431,231,244
|
2.57
|
518.23
|
|
Cumberland
|
5,581
|
79,008
|
1,859,138,959
|
1.97
|
452.52
|
|
New
Hanover
|
6,302
|
71,551
|
1,909,255,432
|
2.02
|
513.15
|
|
Gaston
|
4,250
|
71,082
|
1,923,615,886
|
2.04
|
520.42
|
State Total
|
222,076
|
3,213,882
|
$94,449,545,330
|
100.00
|
$565.15
|
Although almost every region of the state enjoyed economic
growth and expansion during the 1990s, the urban areas
received the lion’s share. At the end of the decade, the 10
most populous counties were home to more than half of all jobs
in the state and paid more than 61 percent of all wages earned
(see chart above). The average annual wage in North
Carolina in 1999 was $29,388, or about 92 percent of the
average national wage that year of $31,908. Workers in four
counties earned more than the national average – Durham
($44,842), Mecklenburg ($38,951), Wake ($32,649) and Forsyth
($32,199).
Industry
|
Payroll
|
%
of all
Wages Paid
|
Average
Weekly Wages
|
|
All
Other
|
$4,339,890
|
N/a
|
$604.78
|
|
Mining
|
171,305,777
|
0.2
|
846.00
|
Agriculture, Forestry
& Fishing
|
1,035,431,264
|
1.1
|
384.80
|
|
Construction
|
6,651,195,494
|
7.0
|
563.92
|
|
Transportation,
Comm., & Utilities
|
6,854,181,243
|
7.3
|
756.98
|
|
Finance,
Insurance, Real Estate
|
7,948,746,155
|
8.4
|
847.58
|
|
Wholesale
& Retail Trade
|
19,149,527,022
|
20.3
|
419.62
|
|
Services
|
24,896,043,901
|
26.4
|
533.03
|
|
Manufacturing
|
27,738,774,584
|
29.4
|
665.95
|
The 1990s saw explosive growth in high-tech and service
industry jobs in North Carolina, but manufacturing remained
the bedrock of the state’s economy at the end of the decade
(see chart above). Manufacturing provided 801,017 jobs
at the end of 1999, or 24.9 percent of all jobs covered by
unemployment insurance. Manufacturing’s payroll was about
$27.7 billion, or nearly 30 percent of all wages earned in
North Carolina in 1999. Manufacturing jobs paid average weekly
wages of $665.95 in 1999, or almost exactly $100 a week more
than the state average of $565.15.
The annual report, “Employment and Wages in North Carolina,
1999,” was compiled by the Labor Market Information Division
of the ESC. Copies can be ordered from the agency by calling
919-733-2936. Extracts from the report are available at the
ESC’s web site, www.esc.state.nu.us
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