With the exception of one year, Vigo County has seen a slow decline in the number of total jobs since 2009, while the average wage per job has slowly, but steadily increased.
The average wage per job in Vigo County was $37,303 in 2013, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2012, according to 2013 county-level data on salaries and employment recently released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
While the percentage increase matches that of the state, Vigo County’s average wage falls below Indiana’s $42,328 average wage per job for 2013.
Going back to 2009, wages have increased at about the same rate as in 2013. Vigo County’s average wage per job in 2009 was $34,473; increased to $35,488 in 2010; then up to $35,944 in 2011; up to $36,901 in 2012; and at $37,303 in 2013.
Vigo County saw a slight uptick in the number of jobs from 2011 to 2012, going from 53,412 to 53,530. Yet that is the only increase in the number of jobs in a five-year period. The number of jobs overall has decreased since 2009, which included the Great Recession often associated with the U.S. subprime mortgage and financial crisis of 2007-2008.
In 2009, Vigo County had 55,098 jobs, which fell to 54,174 a year later. The next two years saw a slight increase, but the county lost 212 jobs from 2012 to 2013, a 0.4 percent decrease. The county had 53,318 jobs in 2013, which ranked 12th highest in the state for 2013, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
”To me it is not surprising,” said Steve Witt, president of the Terre Haute Economic Development Corp. “I think since the recession, employers are still uncertain about the economy going forward, so they hesitate to put more people on the payroll and are working with the folks they already have, and some are probably paying [workers] more for more responsibilities.”
Tippecanoe County ranked eighth largest in the state with 90,112 jobs in 2013, while Monroe County ranked ninth largest, with 71,055 jobs. Marion County was top-ranked with 619,330 jobs. Overall, Indiana saw a 1.1 percent increase in jobs from 2012 to 2013, going from 2,983,418 to 3,016,449.
It’s a mixed bag in several other Wabash Valley counties.
• Clay County has seen a steady, but small growth in jobs, growing from 6,993 jobs in 2009 to 8,212 in 2012, but dipping slightly to 8,078 in 2013. The average wage per job has gone up each year since 2009, from $28,272 in 2009 to $30,844 in 2013.
• Parke County saw a decrease in the number of jobs in four of the past five years since 2009, when the county had 3,568 jobs. In 2010, that dropped to 3,441. It dropped by just one job in 2011 at 3,440 jobs. In 2012, Parke County had 3,381 jobs. However, in 2013, the number of jobs rose slightly to 3,393.
The average wage per job was $27,957 in Parke County in 2009, which dipped to $27,792 in 2010. Average wages increased every year after, ending at $39,578 in 2013.
• The number of jobs in Sullivan County increased from 2009 through 2012, going from 6,049 to 6,519, but fell by 16 in 2013, to 6,503. The average wage per job in Sullivan County increased every year from 2009 to 2013, going from $32,692 to $39,578.
• Vermillion County also saw a decline in the number of jobs from 2009 to 2011 (4,600 jobs to 4,334 jobs), but saw a slight increase in 2012 to 4,635. However, the number dipped to 4,555 in 2013. The average wage per job rose from 2009 to 2010 ($42,945 to $46,287), but fell in 2011 to $45,403. The average wage per job increased in $45,693 in 2012 and to $45,731 in 2013.