http://www.denverpost.com/business/biz0802l.htm


Metro incomes increasing even faster than inflation

By Anne Colden
Denver Post Business Writer

August 2, 2000 - Even though they are among the most sought-after
workers in the Internet economy, the average hourly wage for computer
programmers in the Denver area fell by about 80 cents last year.

Computer programmers earned an average of $26.03 an hour in 1999, down
from $26.86 the year before, according to an annual survey of wages by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[INLINE] Wages for computer-systems analysts rose slightly, from
$29.13 in 1998 to $30.93 last year.

Overall, wages for workers in the Denver area rose by about 4 percent
last year, which outpaced the inflation rate of 3.6 percent. Workers
from more than 300 companies sampled by the bureau averaged $17.69 an
hour last year, up from $16.99 an hour in 1998.

Richard Wobbekind, associate professor of business economics at the
University of Colorado, said the region is starting to see signs of
inflationary pressures, but that the demand for workers will likely
keep wages rising faster than inflation for the next year or two.

"The job seeker has the advantage in negotiating for a good wage,"
Wobbekind said. "What's in short supply right now is people, not
capital." The mantra among employers is "labor to the nth degree: We
can't find it, we can't afford it. The message is very, very clear,"
he said.

The demand for skilled labor - including computer and hightech workers
- is particularly intense on the Front Range. The monthly purchasing
manager's index compiled by CU-Denver from a survey of manufacturing
employers indicates drastic shortages in skilled labor.

[INLINE] While the salaries for computer programmers appeared to dip
slightly in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, the survey doesn't
take into account perks such as stock options and bo nuses.

The survey says that Denverarea workers continue to earn more than
residents of other metropolitan areas. In 1998, the last year for
which statistics are available, Denver metro residents earned an
average of $35,628 annually, up 6.8 percent from the year before.

That was the second-highest annual increase in the nation, behind
Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Wash. It surpassed the average of the
nation's 315 metropolitan areas, which was $33,381.

With Colorado's economic growth has come a demand for more services,
which has allowed some in service businesses to raise their prices,
said Wobbekind. Yet, wages have escalated more rapidly than the cost
of living, as prices of most things, like food or automobiles, haven't
risen as fast. Housing is the big exception in this area.

"You're starting to see it in personal services," Wobbekind said.
"Landscapers, for example, can bid jobs higher because there's so many
requests for work."

The creation of so many new jobs has rendered unemployment virtually
immeasurable. Colorado's unemployment rate was 2.3 percent in June,
the second-lowest in the nation.

That low unemployment rate will likely keep more pressure on employers
to maintain competi tive wages, he said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics surveyed 310 firms representing 535,000
workers in the six-county Denver metro area - Adams, Arapahoe,
Boulder, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson - plus Weld County. The survey
covers private industry, and state and local government.

[INLINE]

Dave McDermott, regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
said employers could use the data to make decisions on how to position
themselves within the labor market. And employees could use the
numbers as leverage when asking for raises or looking for a new job.

The bureau plans to hold an open house to discuss the data on wages,
benefits and employment from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today at Sheraton
Four Points, 600 S. Colorado Blvd.

Total compensation paid, which includes benefits as well as salaries
and wages, rose 4.7 percent in Western states during the past year.
Much of that was driven by increasing health-insurance costs,
McDermott said.

Wages and salaries accounted for 74 percent of employers' costs for
compensation. Benefits accounted for 26 percent of those costs,
McDermott said. The bureau includes vacations, holidays, insurance and
retirement benefits. Next year, it plans to include hiring and
referral bonuses and lump-sum payments. It also will start measuring
the number of companies that include option packages.

McDermott said there were few surprises in the wage numbers, except
for the wide ranges in pay among different levels of the same
occupation. Less experienced teachers could earn $13.81 an hour, for
example, while those just three notches up from that could earn
$27.34. White-collar workers averaged $20.62 an hour and accounted for
64 percent of the workers surveyed. Wages for white-collar workers
averaged $19.58 in 1998.

Blue-collar workers averaged $13.69 an hour - up from $13.19 an hour
the year before - and represented 23 percent of those surveyed.

The remainder worked in service occupations and earned an average of
$10.46 an hour, up from $10.10 an hour the year before.

The bureau's wage survey indicated that full-time employees earned an
average of $18.33 an hour, while part-timers earned $10.90. Union
workers in bluecollar jobs averaged $16.27 an hour; those with
non-union jobs earned $12.54.

According to the survey, elementary school teachers earned an average
of $27.11 an hour, up from $25.95 a year ago.