Bernalillo County Wage Drop Rate Doubles State Rate

Bernalillo County is New Mexico’s only member of the group of the nation’s 327 largest population counties.
We know the county is performing poorly economically. Not that we need any reminder, today the Bureau of Labor Statistics posted some numbers on the performance of those 327 largest counties. The numbers are for the first quarter of the year. Things are better now, as UNM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research might put it. For those of us in the real world, BBER’s “better” means “less bad.”
In any case….
For the first quarter of 2010, Bernalillo County had 17,400 business establishments which employed a total of 309,500 people. Employment dropped 2.1% from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010. The employment performance ranked 161 among the 327, a little above the middle.
Those 309,500 people earned an average of $760 each week, a year over year decline of 1.3%. The wage performance ranked 237, toward the top of the lowest one-third of the counties.
As compared to the state, the recession has hit Bernalillo County harder. Employment dropped two percent, year over year. The average wage statewide, $716 in the first quarter of 2010, dropped 0.8% from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010, less than half the Bernalillo County rate of wage decline.
A business establishment is a place where business is done. A firm such as a fast food franchise or a bank can operate several establishments.