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August 2011
Occupational Employment
Statistics (OES) Highlights
Area Focus – Riverside-San BernardinoOntario, CA
In terms of unemployment, the impact of the recent recession (December 2007–June
2009)1 was worse for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area
(henceforth, Riverside) than for many others. Riverside’s unemployment rate, which
has been consistently above the U.S. average over the last two decades, is currently
the highest of all large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States at
14.2 percent.2 An examination of employment and wages in Riverside can provide
insight into the current labor market situation there. This highlight shows that the
occupation groups with lower wages and higher national unemployment rates were
more concentrated in Riverside than in other areas.
Chart 1. Percentage of total Riverside MSA employment by occupation group,
May 2010
Office and Administrative Support
Sales and Related
Food Preparation and Serving Related
Transportation and Material Moving
Education, Training, and Library
Production Occupations
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Construction and Extraction
Management
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
Business and Financial Operations
Protective Service
Personal Care and Service
Healthcare Support
Community and Social Service
Computer and Mathematical
Architecture and Engineering
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Legal
Location quotient > 1
Location quotient < 1
Difference in U.S.
and MSA
employment shares
not significant
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
Chart 1 illustrates the distribution of occupational employment, showing the
percentage of the area’s employment found in each of the 21 occupation groups. The
chart also highlights the occupation groups that were more (orange bars), less
(purple bars), or equally (beige bars) concentrated in Riverside than in the United
States as a whole according to location quotients. A location quotient is the ratio of
an area’s employment in an occupation to national employment in that occupation; a
value greater than 1 indicates the occupation is relatively more prominent in the
Riverside MSA than in the United States as a whole. The two largest occupation
groups in Riverside—office and administrative support occupations and sales and
related occupations—together accounted for slightly more than a quarter of
employment. These two occupations, however, represented about the same
proportion of employment in Riverside as in the nation.
Chart 2. Occupation groups with location quotients greater than 1, May 2010
1.41
Transportation and material moving
Protective service
1.21
Education, training, and library
1.21
Construction and extraction
1.14
Food preparation and serving related
1.13
1.07
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance
Chart 2 presents occupation groups with an above-average representation in the
Riverside area as measured by the location quotient. Transportation and material
moving occupations accounted for nearly 10 percent of employment in Riverside but
only 7 percent in the nation, making it the occupation group with the largest location
quotient.3 Nearly half of the employment in this group came from two detailed
occupations: heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers; and laborers and freight, stock, and
material movers, hand. Protective service occupations accounted for only a small
portion of employment in Riverside (about 3 percent) but still more than its share of
2
U.S. employment (2.5 percent). Nearly two-thirds of employment in protective
service occupations was made up of three detailed occupations: security guards,
police and sheriff’s patrol officers, and firefighters. Education, training, and library
occupations, the fifth largest group overall, accounted for around 8 percent of
Riverside employment and only 6.7 percent of U.S. employment. About half of the
employment in this major group came from grade school teachers. The occupation
groups with a location quotient of less than 1, presented in Chart 3, each accounted
for 6 percent or less of total employment in the Riverside MSA.
Chart 3. Occupation groups with location quotients less than 1, May 2010
Installation, maintenance, and repair
0.96
Community and social service
0.95
Healthcare practitioners and technical
0.90
Production
0.90
Healthcare support
0.88
Management
0.87
Business and financial operations
0.71
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media
0.62
Architecture and engineering
0.57
Legal
0.51
Computer and mathematical
0.44
Unemployment rates by occupation are not available at the MSA level, but they are
available at the national level for the major occupation groups. Charts 4 and 5 show
the national unemployment rates for occupation groups with a location quotient of
greater than 1 and less than 1, respectively. Notably, 5 of the 7 occupation groups
with above-average representation in Riverside had a national unemployment rate
that was above the 2010 U.S. rate of 9.6 percent, including one group—construction
and extraction occupations—with a rate that was more than twice the U.S. average.4
In contrast, with the exception of a single occupation group—production
occupations—the occupation groups with location quotients of less than 1 had
unemployment rates that were below the national average, as illustrated in chart 5.
3
Chart 4. U.S. unemployment rates for occupation groups with location quotients
greater than 1, 2010
Construction and extraction
20.1%
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance
12.8%
Transportation and material moving
12.4%
Food preparation and serving related
12.4%
Protective service
5.9%
Education, training, and library
4.2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Source: Current Population Survey
Chart 5. U.S. unemployment rates for occupation groups with location quotients
less than 1, May 2010
Production
13.1%
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
9.3%
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
8.9%
Healthcare Support
7.6%
Architecture and Engineering
6.2%
Business and Financial Operations
5.6%
Computer and Mathematical
5.2%
Management
4.8%
Community and Social Service
4.6%
Legal
2.7%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
2.5%
0%
5%
10%
Source: Current Population Survey
4
15%
20%
25%
In 8 of the 21 occupation groups the average wages were higher in Riverside than in
the United States as a whole. The average wage for all occupations combined in the
Riverside MSA, however, was $20.64 per hour in May 2010, which was slightly below
the U.S. average of $21.35. The overall wage was partially driven by the composition
of employment: in general, the lower paying occupations had higher location
quotients.
Chart 6 shows average hourly earnings for Riverside and the United States for the
occupation groups with location quotients greater than 1. Five of the occupation
groups with above-average employment representation in Riverside are among the
lower paying groups. Four of the groups, however, had average wages that exceeded
the U.S. wage for those occupation groups: protective service; education, training,
and library; construction and extraction; and building and grounds cleaning and
maintenance; in all but the latter, average wages were greater than the overall
average for Riverside ($20.64 per hour). In two of the occupation groups shown in
chart 6, the differences in average hourly wages for Riverside and for the United
States were not statistically significant: transportation and material moving
occupations and food preparation and serving related occupations.
Chart 7 compares wages for the Riverside MSA with those of the United States as a
whole for the occupation groups with location quotients of less than 1. In general,
wages for the groups with location quotients of less than 1 were much higher paying
than those with location quotients of more than 1. For example, 9 of the 11
occupation groups in the former category had mean wages that were higher than the
mean wage for all occupations. A comparison of mean wages for Riverside and the
United States presents no definite patterns: four of the occupations had mean wages
that were higher than the U.S. average, and five had mean wages that were lower.
5
Chart 6. Riverside MSA and U.S. hourly mean wages for occupation groups with
location quotients greater than 1, May 2010
$28.36
Education, training, and library
$24.25
$23.45
Protective service
$20.43
$23.42
Construction and extraction
$21.09
$12.77
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance
$12.16
Food preparation and serving related *
$10.25
MSA wage
$10.21
U.S. wage
*MSA and U.S. wages not
significantly different
$15.57
Transportation and material moving *
$15.70
$0
$10
$20
$30
$40
$50
Chart 7. Riverside MSA and U.S. hourly mean wages for occupation groups with
location quotients less than 1, May 2010
$38.50
$34.27
Healthcare practitioners and technical
$24.73
$20.76
Community and social service
$21.95
$20.58
Installation, maintenance, and repair
$13.61
$12.94
Healthcare support
*MSA and U.S. wages not
significantly different
$36.95
$36.32
Architecture and engineering*
$46.10
$46.60
Legal*
$15.04
$16.24
Production
$30.71
$32.54
Business and financial operations
$22.93
$25.14
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media
MSA wage
U.S. wage
$48.05
$50.69
Management
$33.48
$37.13
Computer and mathematical
$0
$10
6
$20
$30
$40
$50
Chart 8 offers a summary of the occupation group employment and wages data by
location quotient range.5 The percentages in the chart indicate the percentage of
total MSA employment found in an occupation group within the corresponding
location quotient range—greater than, less than, or not significantly different from 1.
The wages in the chart indicate the average of the mean wages of the occupation
groups found within the corresponding location quotient range. Perhaps the most
notable feature in these data is that the average mean wage of $18.67 for major
occupations with a location quotient greater than 1 is substantially lower than the
average mean wage of $30.19 for occupations in the less-than-1 category.6
Chart 8. Riverside MSA percentage of total employment and average mean wages
by location quotient range, May 2010
31%
$18.67
LQ > 1
39%
LQ < 1
$18.97
not significant
30%
$30.19
In addition to employment and wage estimates for occupation groups, OES data also
feature estimates for detailed occupations. Chart 9 highlights the employment and
wages of the 10 largest detailed occupations in terms of employment in Riverside.
These occupations are mostly low paying. With the exception of registered nurses, all
of the occupations had an hourly mean wage that was less than the average for all
occupations. Hourly mean wages are not available for the sixth largest occupation in
the area—elementary school teachers, except special education—but its annual mean
wage ($65,950) was much higher than the annual mean wage for all occupations
($44,410).
7
Chart 9: Employment and wages of the 10 largest occupations in the Riverside
MSA, May 2010
Retail salespersons
$12.01
Cashiers
$10.65
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand
$12.46
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including
fast food
$9.39
Office clerks, general
$14.13
Elementary school teachers, except special education
$65,950*
Stock clerks and order fillers
*Annual
mean wage
$11.73
Registered nurses
$38.36
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers
$20.87
Waiters and waitresses
$9.70
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
Employment
Chart 10 highlights the detailed occupations with the 10 largest location quotients.
These occupations together make up a very small percentage of employment in the
Riverside MSA (less than 1 percent). The occupations with the first and second
largest values are found in the personal care and service occupations group and are
both gambling-related: gaming service workers, all other; and slot supervisors.
Three of the 10 are found in the construction and extraction occupations group:
helpers—painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons; tapers; and tile and
marble setters. Two of the 10 are found in the transportation and material moving
occupations group: aircraft cargo handling supervisors; and tank car, truck, and ship
loaders. One occupation is found in the production occupations group: woodworkers,
all other; and one occupation is found in the protective service occupations group:
fire inspectors and investigators. With the exception of woodworkers, all other, all of
the occupations are part of an occupation group with a location quotient greater than
1.
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Chart 10. Detailed occupations with the 10 largest location quotients, May 2010
Gaming service workers, all other
7.89
Slot supervisors
6.31
Plasterers and stucco masons
5.33
Woodworkers, all other
5.18
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and
stucco masons
4.89
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors
4.23
Tapers
3.72
Fire inspectors and investigators
3.37
Tile and marble setters
3.25
Tank car, truck, and ship loaders
3.12
Chart 11 shows U.S. and Riverside wages for the detailed occupations with the
largest location quotients. Although 6 of the 10 occupations had a wage greater than
the corresponding U.S. wage for the occupation, no clear pattern emerges regarding
the occupation groups to which they pertain. Each of the occupation groups with
more than one detailed occupation represented in the chart had a detailed
occupation with a wage that was above the U.S. wage for the occupation and one
that was below. Only 4 of the 10 occupations had a mean wage that exceeded the
mean wage for all occupations.
9
Chart 11. Riverside MSA and U.S. wages for detailed occupations with 10 the
largest location quotients, May 2010
$19.85
Aircraft cargo handling supervisors
$24.81
$10.57
$12.65
Gaming service workers, all other
$11.47
$13.42
Woodworkers, all other
$25.18
$27.00
Fire inspectors and investigators
$22.83
$23.35
Tapers
$19.77
$20.11
Tile and marble setters
Helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and
stucco masons
$12.14
$11.89
$22.69
$21.40
Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
MSA wage
$15.80
$14.47
Slot Supervisors
U.S. wage
$21.64
$19.75
Plasterers and stucco masons
Complete Occupational Employment Statistics data for May 2010 are available from
the OES webpage. This highlight was prepared by Tanner Beam. For more
information, please contact the OES program.
1
The beginning and ending dates of recessions are determined by the National Bureau of Economic
Research.
2
Riverside unemployment rates are from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics program and
historical national unemployment rates are from the BLS Current Population Survey program.
3
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations are excluded from this analysis.
4
Unemployment rates by occupation are from the BLS Current Population Survey program.
5
Mean wages for location quotient groups are not produced by the BLS Occupational Employment
Statistics program. Rather, they are calculated separately in this article by taking the average of the
mean wages of the corresponding major groups.
6
Wages by location quotient range are not weighted by employment, but rather by the average of the
estimated mean wages for the major groups in that range.
10

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