Average wage for new jobs in Northern Kentucky: $60,922

The new jobs created in Northern Kentucky in 2007 weren't exactly your proverbial burger flippers. The average wage for the 2,264 primary new jobs created in '07 was $60,922, far above the area average. The Northern Kentucky region’s greatest job gains were in the finance and insurance and manufacturing sectors. The region also showed a net gain of 349 jobs in management, the sixth year in a row the region has added employment in this high-wage sector.
 
The data comes from a new report issued by Policom Corp., an independent economic research firm that analyzed local and government data for Northern Kentucky Tri-ED. High-wage jobs not only bring in more revenue for local governments, but also boost consumer spending power,  supporting local and regional economies. "By attracting high-wage jobs, we're affecting the economy that much more," says Dan Tobertge, president and CEO of Northern Kentucky Tri-ED, the economic development agency for Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.

The new jobs included more than 100 at Cincinnati Machine's Hebron facility, where engineers and those with other advanced manufacturing skills were hired to support that company's work making high-end machines used in the aerospace, heavy equipment, energy and other industries.

Northern Kentucky has set a goal of creating 14,300 net new primary jobs by 2015, a major goal of the Vision 2015 community-wide planning initiative. It's expected that reaching that many primary jobs will mean Vision 2015's overall goal of 50,000 net new jobs will be achieved, as primary jobs attract other jobs.  The 2,264 primary jobs added in 2007 is 58 percent more than the Vision 2015 goal of 1,430 annual primary jobs.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Dan Tobertge, Northern Kentucky Tri-ED
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