LOCAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT | WAGES

A cut above the rest

By BILL BOWEN
Special Contributor businessnews@dallasnews.com

The number of workers earning wages in the private sector stood at 131.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2012, the latest data available. Of those, 10.6 million workers were employed in Texas. Nationally, the average weekly wage, at $955, was down by 1.7 percent, from 12 months earlier, only the fourth such decrease since this measure started in 1978. The average wage in Texas was $973.

Slowing wage increases

Wages in Dallas County grew 11 percent in the first five years of the previous decade, but had slowed to only 7.5 percent in the last half of the decade. AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGES
$1,200 $1,000 $800 $600 $400 $200 0 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

What we make
A sampling of wages for various occupations in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area; includes bonuses, but no benefits. OCCUPATION
Chief executives Dentists Surgeons Airline pilots Physicians (family medicine) Petroleum engineers Lawyers Air traffic controllers Operations managers Sales managers Financial managers Economists Human resources managers Public relations managers Pharmacists Chemical engineers Advertising managers University business teachers Computer programmers Personal financial advisers Detectives and investigators Dental hygienists Registered nurses Loan officers Editors Airport operations specialists Police and sheriffs patrol officers Secondary school teachers Landscape architects Elementary school teachers Health educators Mail carriers Chiropractors Interior designers Chefs Firefighters Executive secretaries Flight attendants Graphic designers Real estate agents Electricians Probation officers Retail supervisors Truck drivers Human resource assistants Jailers and corrections officers Machinists Substance abuse counselors Emergency medical technicians Carpenters File clerks Security guards Retail salespeople Butchers Teacher assistants Home health aides Hotel desk clerks

$1,116
Up 7.5%

AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGE

$194,050 $183,460 $168,790 $164,770 $164,280 $161,260 $138,560 $135,450 $120,300 $120,300 $119,980 $114,970 $114,130 $112,040 $111,830 $91,900 $86,940 $85,180 $83,860 $81,750 $76,100 $72,640 $67,650 $63,400 $63,130 $58,050 $57,940 $57,620 $57,000 $54,990 $53,180 $52,160 $51,990 $51,080 $50,050 $49,850 $48,990 $47,020 $46,870 $45,960 $43,940 $42,130 $41,550 $40,600 $38,110 $37,670 $36,220 $35,150 $33,170 $31,880 $28,650 $26,260 $25,960 $25,290 $22,470 $22,180 $19,960

Up 11%

Largest employment
Two of the largest and fastest-growing employment counties are in Texas. Three, including the largest, are in California. In the past year, Harris County added more than 62,000 workers. Dallas County added 32,000. COUNTY
Los Angeles (California) Cook (Illinois) New York (N.Y.) Harris (Texas) Maricopa (Arizona) Dallas (Texas) Orange (California) San Diego (California)

EMPLOYED WORKERS
4 million 2.4 million 2.4 million 2.1 million 1.7 million 1.5 million 1.4 million 1.3 million

States with the highest wages

Texas wages are above the national average and the state ranks 14th, including the District of Columbia, which sits at the top of the wage rankings. STATE AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE
District of Columbia New York Massachusetts Connecticut New Jersey California Maryland Illinois Virginia Delaware Alaska Washington Colorado Texas New Hampshire $1,197 $1,192 $1,188 $1,138 $1,100 $1,058 $1,013 $1,004 $984 $982 $979 $975 $973 $971 $1,668

Wage ranking of Texas counties

Harris County leads the states large counties in average wages, but there is a wide disparity among all counties. COUNTY
Harris Dallas Collin Travis Tarrant Bexar
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

AVERAGE WEEKLY WAGE

$1,193 $1,116 $1,055 $1,016 $912 $831

The bottom line

This is a good program to use to compare metropolitan areas or counties. In general, the ones that are more densely populated and more highly developed economically, then those wages just tend to be higher across the board. Cheryl Abbot, Dallas regional economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics No. 1, the labor market is weak. Were seeing more parttime workers and the unemployment rate is above 8 percent. So in the face of weak labor markets, supply is greater than demand, you wouldnt expect to see much inflation in wage with low demand for workers. Bernard Weinstein, economist at Southern Methodist Universitys Cox School of Business Obviously, what we earn is an important part of our self-esteem and drives our quality of life. But sometimes passion fills the ranks of jobs that dont pay as handsomely, but provide other satisfactions and gratification.

Bill Bowen, special contributor, The Dallas Morning News