By Adam Pagnucco.
This series examines new estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for employment and related stats in 2022. Part One looked at total employment, Part Two looked at private sector employment and Part Three looked at establishment counts. Today, we will look at total wages paid by establishments, an important part of the area’s taxable income base.
The chart below shows one-year growth by jurisdiction and for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria region as a whole.
Every jurisdiction in the region saw growth in total wages paid last year, but among the ten largest, Montgomery County saw the least growth.
Let’s see how the area’s total wages paid last year compares to the pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
Unlike jobs, every jurisdiction has seen a full recovery in wage payments. Montgomery County is only slightly below the region average on this measure.
Finally, the chart below shows growth in total wages paid over the last 15 years. The base year, 2007, was the year before the Great Recession started.
Montgomery County was well below the region’s performance on this measure with only Prince George’s and Alexandria faring worse.
Montgomery County has generally underperformed the region on total employment, private employment, establishment count and total wages paid both in the short term and the long term. We will conclude in Part Five.