By Gina Martinez
A new report from the U.S Department of Labor revealed that the Queens job market has contained to grow and has the second highest average wage in the city, behind Manhattan.
According to Labor’s county employment and wages report, from March 2016 to March 2017 all five boroughs recorded an increase over the year in weekly wages, but none exceeded the national average for wage growth. Manhattan led the five boroughs with a 6.3 percent increase in yearly wages, ranked 183rd among the nation’s 346 large counties. The yearly gains in the other four boroughs ranked among the bottom quarter. McLean, Ill., had the largest wage gain with 27.8 percent and Peoria, Ill., was the only large county to see a decline with a -1.1 percent decrease.
The report also measured weekly wages. Queens had an average weekly wage of $1,010 at the end of the first quarter, second highest behind Manhattan, which had an average weekly wage of $2,954, or 2 1/2 times the national average. Brooklyn had the lowest weekly wage in the city, averaging $864.
The report also said employment from March 2016 to March 2017 went up in both Brooklyn and Queens, well above the national average of 1.6 percent. Brooklyn’s average employment growth of 3.2 percent ranked 34th out of 346 large counties in the country and Queens 2.7 percent increase ranked 73rd.
The report said that nationally employment had increased in 299 of 346 largest counties from March 2016 to March 2017.
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