Have you checked your paycheck lately? According to a report published today on MSN, the Biloxi metro area grew by nearly 11 percent comparing numbers from the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2013.
In fact, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate wages growth in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula metro area was the third highest in the metro areas surveyed, behind only Idaho Falls, Idaho, where wages grew by 18.4 percent from between the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2013, and The Villages, Fla., which saw an 11.8 percent increase.
Before you begin celebrating, remember this: “Although there are many signs the economy is improving, average weekly wages in the United States remained stagnant throughout 2013,” the report said. “This was a notable change from a year earlier, when weekly wages rose 4.7 percent over the same period.”
The synopses — written by 24/7 Wall St., a service that delivers news to online services such as MSN, Yahoo! and AOL – said the average weekly wage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast was $791.
The report noted that the Mississippi Gulf Coast was severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, the Great Recession and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “These events harmed the area’s leisure and hospitality sector, which has traditionally accounted for a sizable share of the area’s employment. In fact, in 2013, the sector accounted for 22 percent of all nonfarm jobs in Gulfport and Biloxi, more than in all but a small number of metro areas.
“Pascagoula, in turn, was exceptionally manufacturing-heavy, accounting for 24 percent of all nonfarm jobs in 2013. Many of the manufacturing jobs are in shipbuilding, led by Huntington Ingalls, which claims to be the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi. Wages grew more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 from the year before.
The top 5 metro areas in the report: No. 5, Â Santa Cruz, Calif.; No. 4, Wheeling, WV; No. 3, Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss.; No. 2, The Villages, Fla.; and No. 1, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Read the entire report, on 24/7 Wall St.
