FOREWORD

This publication contains employment and wage information for the calendar year 1996 as reported to the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs by firms participating in the West Virginia Unemployment Compensation system. These data are collected and prepared through a cooperative program conducted jointly by the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

The West Virginia Unemployment Compensation Law--Chapter 21A of the West Virginia Code--protects approximately 90 percent of the employees in the state by providing temporary income to eligible unemployed individuals. In general, any firm which employs one or more workers for some part of a day in at least 20 different weeks of a calendar year is required to contribute to the state's unemployment insurance reserves. Major exceptions are railroad companies and the federal government which contribute to separate insurance programs. Since data from the Program of Unemployment Compensation for Federal Civilian Employees are available, federal workers are included in this publication but railroad workers are not. The self-employed, student workers, most church workers, and unpaid family workers are generally not covered by West Virginia Unemployment Compensation Law. In certain instances agricultural workers and domestics are covered. For specific information regarding unemployment compensation coverage, please contact the Unemployment Compensation Division.

The statewide and county tables contain data pertaining to annual average covered employment and total wages paid to employees by covered employers. The average annual wage is computed by dividing the total wages reported for the calendar year by the annual average employment of all covered firms. The average weekly wage is calculated by dividing the average annual wage by 52. Industry lines with employment below 20, or which might disclose information about individual firms, are not published and all lines are independently rounded. Consequently, the industry lines for counties may not sum to county totals.

Industry detail is classified according to Standard Industrial Classification Manual (1987). This edition provides statewide employment and wage figures at finer (3-digit and 4-digit) levels of industry detail are included whenever these meet publication criteria. This is the second year 3- and 4- digit detail has been published for the state and this year's edition adds 2-, 3-, and 4-digit industry detail at county levels. Government establishments are not classified according to primary activity, but are included in the federal, state, and local government totals. Unclassified establishments are those which cannot be categorized by individual industry and/or county.

Copies of this publication may be obtained by contacting:

WEST VIRGINIA BUREAU OF EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS
Office of Labor and Economic Research
112 California Avenue
Charleston, West Virginia 25305-0112
Telephone: (304)558-2658

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