Yesterday on the radio JT asked about updated numbers from the 2015 post I made earlier this week. Here are the numbers for 2016 annual private wage averages by county from a different source (the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages).
There is much the same look to this map as the earlier one in terms of the consistency of the outcomes in the various different counties. One thing to note, Slope county did not meet disclosure requirements, so while I entered it as a zero it is really NA. Even into 2016 the Bakken area remains the locus of high annual wage activity, though the data show it did come down from its highest levels. I expect the trend here continues though it is clear from the data that the Bakken region is coming back to the pack. Really it is surprising that it maintained this level for so long after the peak in oil activity.
