Tag: Indiana

Economic-Watching: County Employment & Wages – Second Quarter 2024

[from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 November, 2024]

From June 2023 to June 2024, employment increased in 259 of the 369 largest U.S. counties, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In June 2024, national employment increased to 155.7 million, a 0.8-percent increase over the year, as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. Kings, NY, had the largest over-the-year increase in employment, with a gain of 4.0 percent. Employment data in this release are presented for June 2024, and average weekly wage data are presented for second quarter 2024.

Among the 369 largest counties, 348 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages. In the second quarter of 2024, average weekly wages for the nation increased to $1,390, a 4.4-percent increase over the year. Hamilton, IN, had the largest second quarter over-the-year wage gain at 33.4 percent. (See table 1 [archived PDF].)

Large County Employment in June 2024

Kings, NY, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment (+4.0 percent). Within Kings, the largest employment increase occurred in education and health services, which rose by 37,473 (+10.3 percent).

Elkhart, IN, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-3.0 percent). Within Elkhart, the largest employment decrease occurred in manufacturing, which fell by 3,243 (-5.0 percent).

Large County Average Weekly Wage in Second Quarter 2024

Hamilton, IN, had the largest over-the-year percentage increase in average weekly wages (+33.4 percent). Within Hamilton, an average weekly wage gain of $2,161 (+139.6 percent) in professional and business services made the largest contribution to the county’s increase in average weekly wages.

Essex, MA, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in average weekly wages (-2.1 percent). Within Essex, an average weekly wage loss of $644 (-25.7 percent) in professional and business services made the largest contribution to the county’s decrease in average weekly wages.

Ten Largest Counties

Nine of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in employment. In June 2024, Miami-Dade, FL, had the largest over-the-year employment percentage gain (+1.5 percent). Within Miami-Dade, leisure and hospitality had the largest employment increase and rose by 3,530 (+2.4 percent). (See table 2 [archived PDF].)

All of the 10 largest counties had over-the-year percentage increases in average weekly wages. In the second quarter of 2024, King, WA, experienced the largest over-the-year percentage gain in average weekly wages (+10.4 percent). Within King, professional and business services had the largest impact, with an average weekly wage increase of $774 (+24.5 percent).

For More Information

The tables included in this release contain data for the nation and for the 369 U.S. counties with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2023. June 2024 employment and second quarter 2024 average weekly wages for all states are provided in table 3 [archived PDF] of this release.

Over-the-year changes of employment and wages presented in this news release are adjusted and may differ from unadjusted data used in BLS data tools and interactive charts. More information is available in the QCEW Technical Note.

QCEW reporting rates tables are available here.

The most current news release on quarterly measures of gross job flows is available from QCEW Business Employment Dynamics.

Several BLS regional offices issue QCEW news releases targeted to local data users. Links to these releases are available here.

QCEW data are available in the Census Business Builder suite of web tools, assisting business owners and regional analysts in data-driven decision making.

The QCEW news release schedule is available here.

The County Employment and Wages full data update for second quarter 2024 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

The County Employment and Wages news release for third quarter 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

The full report with tables [archived PDF].

Economics-Watching: Money Transmitter Regulation: Key to Payments Modernization

[from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, by Claire Greene, payments risk expert in the Retail Payments Risk Forum]

In October, I wrote about the potential for standards to make business-to-business payments more efficient. Today, let’s talk about standards again, this time for money transfer businesses and the state regulations covering them.

We all know these businesses: Venmo, Western Union, MoneyGram, PayPal, CashApp. The roster seemingly grows by the day. Many crypto firms also are registered money transfer businesses. Money transfer businesses typically are nationwide and global in scope. Nevertheless, these multi-state and multi-national businesses are regulated under the separate licensing rules of individual states and US territories. Federal laws, including the Bank Secrecy Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, also apply to money transfer businesses.

For new and established money transfer businesses and for state regulators, the hodgepodge of state regulations creates headaches. To do business everywhere in the United States, money transfer businesses must register separately in each state and US territory and meet license requirements that can vary from state to state. They can face multiple state examinations, also with different requirements, simultaneously (and annually). During examinations, regulators review operations, financial condition, management, and compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

Fortunately, many states have acted to address this confusing and inefficient situation by adopting the Model Money Transmission Modernization Act (MTMA) [archived PDF], sample legislation developed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to establish nationwide standards and requirements for licensed money transmitters. Fourteen states have adopted some version of the MTMA: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. In my home state of Massachusetts, the legislature’s Joint Committee on Financial Services heard testimony on a version of this bill just last month. For traditional money transmitters and new fintech entrants, the MTMA aims to reduce the substantive and technical differences among the various state laws and regulations. This kind of change has the potential to reduce compliance burdens, encourage innovation, and remove barriers to entry for new market participants.

The MTMA is important given the prodigious growth in person-to-person, or P2P, payments via apps. Among all US consumers, half of P2P payments were sent using noncash methods in 2022, up from less than 30 percent in 2020 (see the chart). From Massachusetts alone, money transmitters sent $31 billion in 2022, according to the state’s Division of Banks.

Half of P2P payments were made electronically in 2022.

The MTMA also has the potential to create efficiencies for state supervisors. For example, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has facilitated a collaborative exam program for nationwide payments and cryptocurrency firms to undergo one exam, each facilitated by one state overseeing a group of examiners sourced from across the country. According to the CSBS, transmitters in more than 40 states that have laws addressing core precepts can benefit from the streamlined exams.

The MTMA is another example showing that standards create efficiencies that are good for businesses, good for regulators and, by extension, good for consumers.