Wyandotte and Johnson counties beat national averages in job and wage growth
Recent office and retail development has spurred faster employment and wage growth in Wyandotte County, even topping Johnson County in economic growth rates.
According to data released at year end by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wyandotte County enjoyed the fastest job growth among large counties in Kansas, jumping 4.4 percent from June 2013 to June 2014.
Employment in Johnson County rose 2.8 percent over the same period.
Both counties exceeded the national 2 percent average job growth as well as the national 2.1 percent increase in average wage growth.
Average weekly wages in Wyandotte County rose 4.3 percent to $872. Average weekly wages in Johnson County rose 2.8 percent to $976.
Average wages in the two Kansas City area counties topped those of Sedgwick County ($836) and Shawnee County ($791), the other two large Kansas counties for which the labor department produced detailed statistics.
The bureau said that as of June 2014 there were about 331,400 persons employed in Johnson County; 245,500 in Sedgwick County; 97,300 in Shawnee County, and 88,000 in Wyandotte County.
Together, the four largest counties accounted for 55.5 percent of employment within Kansas.
To reach Diane Stafford, call 816-234-4359 or send email to stafford@kcstar.com. Follow her online at kansascity.com/workplace and @kcstarstafford.
This story was originally published January 6, 2015 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Wyandotte and Johnson counties beat national averages in job and wage growth."