BLS: Greene County wages improve in 4Q

Greene County wages improved by 5 percent in the fourth quarter, ranking the area 46th in the nation among the 339 largest counties by year-to-year percentage change.

For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, the average weekly wage in the county was $773. That’s also up from $725 in the third quarter, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

By year’s end, the BLS counted 8,300 workplaces employing 161,400 in the county, a 2.6 percent increase compared to the same time a year earlier. The county ranked 112th for percentage change in employment.

Of the largest counties in the U.S. - those with at least 75,000 employed workers - employment increased in 319. In fourth-quarter wage growth, the country was led by Benton, Ark. - southwest of Little Rock - which moved up 9.9 percent compared to the same period in 2013, according to the release.

The nation’s average weekly wage rose 3.5 percent over the year to $1,035.