Comparing Metro Phoenix
Employment by Occupation
Description: This indicator depicts the percent of employment in a particular occupational category as a share of total employment.
Rationale: Employment levels by occupation reveal how reliant an area is on certain types of employment and may help to explain high or low wage levels in a region.
Data Sources: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Survey: May 2006. Data are reported for 22 occupational groups and hundreds of occupations, though much of the data are withheld due to federal disclosure restrictions. Data are available by metropolitan area, county, state, and the nation: http://www.bls.gov/oes/home.htm.
Comments on the Quality of the Data: The data are collected over a three-year period – the May 2006 release includes data collected during 2004, 2005, and 2006. This sampling strategy does not affect the accuracy of comparisons across metropolitan areas at any point in time, but comparisons over time would best be undertaken using three-year intervals.
