Employment here heavy in healthcare, tech, finance

Employment in the five-county Philadelphia-area is more highly concentrated in the healthcare practitioner, technical and business, and financial services industries than the rest of the nation, according to government figures released today.

The data, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2006, also show the local area is less concentrated in the production, construction and extraction occupations than the country. The counties are Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia.

In South Jersey, employment was above the U.S. average in the office/administrative support and education/ training/library fields. Production and food preparation/serving were below the national average in the area, consisting of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties.

Wages for both areas were above the national average of $18.84 an hour - $20.68 in the five Pennsylvania counties and $20.41 in the South Jersey counties.

In the Pennsylvania counties, healthcare practitioners represented 6.5 percent of total employment compared with 5.1 percent nationally. In South Jersey, education/training/library workers were 7.3 percent of the workforce compared with 6.2 percent for the country.