February 11, 2009 11:00 AM

Rise in Greater Boston's college employment
Posted by Jesse Nunesat 11:00 AM

This article originally appeared in the Business News Updates blog on Boston.com.

By Chris Reidy, Globe staff

Employment in colleges and universities increased 18.4 percent in the Boston area between 1990 and 2006, a steeper increase than the 11.1 percent gain across all industries, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

In a report titled “The Prominence of Colleges and Universities in the Boston Metropolitan Area," the bureau looked at employment and wage data to analyze the labor market impact and contributions of colleges and universities on the local economy.

One report finding is hardly a surprise: No other metropolitan area in the United States came close to matching Boston’s concentration of employment in higher education. By the bureau's count, there are more than 80 private colleges and universities in the metro area, and they employ 68,600 people. All told, those schools have a collective student population of 360,000.

Boston area colleges and universities’ wages as a proportion of total private wages were 3.2 percent compared with 1 percent nationally, the bureau added.