PREFACE
Bernan Press is proud to present the third edition of Employment, Hours, and Earnings: States and Areas, 2008. This reference is a special edition of Bernan Press’s Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics: Employment, Earnings, Prices, Producti ity, and Other Labor Data. It brings together a wealth of employment data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and includes new types of data not presented in the previous editions.
Features of this publication include:
• Nearly 300 tables with data on employment for each
state, the District of Columbia, and the nation’s 100
largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), which is
double the amount that appeared in the second edition
• Detailed industry data organized by month and on a
non-seasonally adjusted basis
• Hours and earnings data are provided, where available,
by industry for each state
• An introduction page for each state and the District
of Columbia that emphasizes salient data and noteworthy
trends, including data from the Local Area
Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program as well as
an updated figure detailing employment by industry
• Concise technical notes that explain pertinent facts
about the data, including sources, definitions, and significant
changes; this section also provides references
for further guidance on the subject
• An appendix that details the geographical components
of the MSAs
The employment, hours, and earnings data in this publication
provide a detailed and timely picture of the 50 states,
the District of Columbia, and the nation’s largest MSAs.
They can be used to analyze key factors affecting state and
local economies and to compare national cyclical trends to
local-level economic activity.
This reference is an excellent source of information for analysts in both the public and private sectors. Readers who are involved in public policy can use the data to determine the health of the economy, to clearly identify which sectors are growing and which are declining, and to determine the need for federal assistance. State and local jurisdictions can use the data to determine the need for services, including training and unemployment assistance, and for planning and budgetary purposes. In private industry, the data can be used by business owners to compare their company to the economy as a whole. In addition, the data can be used to identify suitable locations when making decisions about plant locations and wholesale and retail trade outlets and
for locating a particular sector base.
Mary Meghan Ryan, a research editor with Bernan Press, edited this edition. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland and is a former economist with the American Economics Group.
Additionally, Ms. Ryan has worked as a research assistant for FRANDATA. She has also served as the associate editor of the Handbook of U.S. Handbook of Labor Statistics: Employment, Earnings, Prices, Producti ity, and Other Labor Data; Business Statistics of the United States: Patterns of Economic Change; The Almanac of American Education; United States Foreign Trade Highlights: Trends in the Global Market and Vital Statistics of the United States:
Births, Life Expectancy, Deaths, and Selected Health Data;
all published by Bernan Press.
As always, special thanks are due to the many federal agency personnel who assisted the editor in obtaining the data, provided excellent resource on their Web sites, and patiently answered questions.

 

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