A SPECIAL REPORT: LAYOFFS

BIG BUCKS: If you’re lucky enough to have a job these days, odds are you’re paid pretty well. . . . The federal government says the average salary in Orange County is among the highest in the nation at $27,852 a year. That puts us at 24th out of 320 U.S. metropolitan areas in 1991. . . . But it’s not as high as in some other California areas--San Jose (third nationally at $34,483); San Francisco (sixth); Los Angeles-Long Beach (13th), and Oakland (15th).