The average weekly wage in Lake County reached $735 in the first quarter of the year, topping last year but falling well below the national average.

A Tuesday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the average weekly national wage was $885 for the first three months of the year, an increase of 5.1 percent from the same period in 2006.

Lake County's average weekly wage climbed nearly 2 percent from the first quarter of 2006, the report said.

Wages in Porter County reached $699, up from $678 in the first quarter of 2006, and in LaPorte County climbed to $620 from $601 the previous year.

Wages in the two highest-paying counties in Indiana, Marion and Hamilton, placed them in the top third of the national ranking among the 328 largest counties in the U.S.

Marion and Hamilton counties are home to a number of corporate headquarters, said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.

"The payrolls for those executives would push up averages," Conover said.

The average weekly wage in Marion County was $930 in the first quarter, a 3.4 percent increase from a year earlier. Hamilton's County's average weekly wage was $865, up by 2.2 percent from last year.

Among Indiana's eight largest counties, St. Joseph County had the lowest average wage at $699, placing it in the bottom third of the nation.

Continuing demand for steel from China, India and other emerging nations is likely to stabilize Northwest Indiana employment figures, Conover said.