Joseph Spector

Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - Wages grew over the past year in all of New York’s largest 18 counties, and most of them also had employment gains, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was positive news for an upstate economy still recovering from the 2009 recession and decades of manufacturing declines.

Ten New York counties had wage growth that outpaced the 2.2 percent national average between the second quarter of 2015 and the second quarter of 2016.

Monroe County, though, was not among those: Wages grew 1.7 percent over the period — to $933 a week.

The average wage in Ontario County was slightly less at $921 a week.

The wage increases were led by a 7 percent rise in Albany County, followed by 6.4 percent in Nassau County.

"Seven of New York’s large counties reported average weekly wages above the $989 national average in the second quarter of 2016," the report said.

"Average weekly wages in five counties (New York, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and Albany) exceeded $1,000."

The average weekly wage of $1,294 in Westchester County was the second highest among large counties in the state and the 18th highest in the nation. Only Manhattan's wages were higher.

The higher salaries in the lower Hudson Valley, coupled with low unemployment rates, may lead to less fluctuation in wages, said John Ravitz, the executive vice president at The Business Council of Westchester.

"In Westchester, we’re lucky that we’re one of the highest wages and our unemployment is low too," he said.

Broome and Erie counties were among five in New York that had wage growth of at least 3.5 percent, placing them in the top fifth of large counties nationally.

But while Broome's wage growth was 3.6 percent, it was also the only large county where employment fell over the period — a slight 0.1 percent drop to a total of 87,200 workers.

It also had the second lowest weekly wage of any of the largest counties: $801 a week, slightly ahead of the $788 a week in Oneida County.

Erie County's wage growth was 3.9 percent to $879 a week.

New York's average wages could also have been affected by an increase in the minimum wage, which rose to $9 an hour on Jan. 1.

Cuomo's office praised the report, pointing to the state's investment in infrastructure, a middle-class tax cut and lower manufacturing tax rates, as well as the higher minimum wage.

“Wages are up and unemployment is down, demonstrating that the governor's policies are working for New Yorkers," said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.

JSpector@Gannett.com

Joseph Spector is chief of USA TODAY Network's Albany Bureau.