Tag Archives: wages

Minimum wage initiative would affect thousands of Kitsap workers

20060124-061050-pic-985377851_5739340_ver1-0_640_480A minimum wage initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot could boost pay for thousands of low-wage Kitsap County workers, according to analysis by a state economist.

But nailing down exactly how many jobs would be affected if the initiative passed is no easy task.

If approved, Initiative 1433 would incrementally increase the state’s minimum wage from the current $9.47 an hour to $13.50 an hour in 2020.

To help understand the implications of the initiative, state Employment Security Department economist Scott Bailey created a hypothetical scenario in which a $13.50 minimum wage was applied to 2015 labor markets in each county. He used a $12.23 minimum wage to account for inflation between 2015 and 2020.

B0013070067--582128For job and wage data, Bailey turned to a database of quarterly wage records.

The records include most jobs covered by unemployment insurance, but exclude federal jobs, private household employment like nannying, and home health care workers.

Bailey also noted the records capture three-month periods, which makes it difficult to create an exact point-in-time job count, since individuals move in and out of labor markets, and many jobs are short-term.

With all those caveats in mind, here were key takeaways from Bailey’s analysis of Kitsap County’s labor market in 2015:

— Somewhere between 3 percent and 6 percent of non-federal jobs in Kitsap paid minimum wage ($9.47, plus or minus 18 cents).

— Somewhere between 19 percent and 26 percent of non-federal jobs paid less than $12.23 an hour (the equivalent of $13.50 in 2020). That was between 9,000 and 19,000 jobs.

— Jobs paying less than $12.23 an hour accounted for 8 percent of Kitsap’s non-federal payroll.

— Payroll would have to increase by about 1.2 percent to meet the minimum wage requirement under 1433, a change of about $29.7 million.

Bailey also took a statewide look at what industries would most be affected by the minimum wage hike, again using 2015 labor market numbers.

This chart shows the percentage of jobs by industry paying less than $12.23 an hour (the equivalent of $13.50 in 2020):

State predicts an increase in holiday season hiring

The holidays should be brighter this year for seasonal workers in Washington.

State economists predict increased holiday hiring by retailers this fall and winter, after two years of decline.

Employment Security Department projects 12,726 holiday hires statewide in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with 10,542 in 2015.

The same report forecasts 375 hires in Kitsap county this year, up from 333 last year.

General merchandise stores do the bulk of the hiring.

“Healthier wage growth amidst an improving employment situation should help raise holiday sales to a level that boosts hiring,” Turek said in the release.

2016-holiday-hiring

Fourth quarter retail sales surged in the past few years, but seasonal staffing didn’t followed suit.

Turek told me statewide holiday hiring peaked in 2013 at 16,500. Hires dropped to 14,753 in 2014 and plunged to 10,542 in 2015, falling well short of the state’s forecast.

The decline was partially attributed to retailers moving away from brick-and-mortar storefronts to focus on online sales. Downsizing by food stores like Haggen also took a toll, Turek said.

This year, Turek sees fewer stores restructuring and believes improving employment and wages will bolster seasonal hiring.

Private sector wages in Kitsap are in the middle of the pack

wintergreen1_26878523_ver1.0_640_480Kitsap County is in the middle of the pack in Washington when it comes to non-government wages.

The median hourly wage for the private sector in Kitsap was $18.03 an hour in 2014, according to a December report from the state Employment Security Department (these reports take about a year to be released).

Wages in Kitsap were far lower than in King County, where the median private sector wage soared to $26.89 in 2014.

Kitsap’s median wage was also lower than the median for the state ($21.48), which was skewed upward by King. And Kitsap’s median wage was still slightly lower than the state median with King County left out ($18.51).

Overall, Kitsap ranked 15th out of 39 Washington counties for private sector wages. The county’s median wage peaked in 2010, according to the report.

Here’s a graphical look at wage trends:

Kitsap ranked 10th in per capita income growth

personal.incomePer capita income grew faster in Kitsap last year than in most Washington counties.

Kitsap posted the 10th largest increase in per capita personal income from 2013 to 2014 among the state’s 39 counties, according to a recent report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Per capita by county, click to enlarge
Per capita income by county, click to enlarge

Per capita income grew 5.3 percent in Kitsap during that period, besting the state average of 4.5 percent. The county’s per capita income level reached $46,573 in 2014.

Kitsap ranked fourth for per capita income, behind King County ($68,877), San Juan County ($59,831) and Island County ($46,608).

Personal income is the total amount earned by residents from wages and other income sources, before taxes. Per capita income is calculated by dividing personal income by population.

The growth in per capita income for 2014 came on the heels of a statewide slowdown in 2013. Per capita income in 0.6 percent in Kitsap between 2012 and 2013, and 0.3 percent in Washington.

Below is a sortable chart of 2014 per capita personal income levels and growth rates by county:

How do Kitsap wages stack up?

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In a recent post I explored how Kitsap County workers make more than their counterparts across the country, but less than the average Washington worker.

Of course it’s not quite that simple.

Wages vary widely by profession and location, and a report released by the state last month lets us take a closer look at those dynamics.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates report is compiled by the Employment Security Department based on surveys of employers. The wage estimates are used by businesses to help set wages and are useful for comparing pay in different areas.

I pulled the average hourly pay for 10 professions, ranging from taco assembly to software programming, for counties around Puget Sound.

You can see how wages compare by clicking through the graphic below. Wave your clicker over the colored bars to see average hourly pay.

If you’re interested in seeing a comparison of wages for a profession I didn’t list above just drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to pull the data.

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Kitsap wages are below state average, above national

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Kitsap County workers earned nearly $1.50 less an hour than the average Washington worker in 2013.

blog.workersBut they were $1.26 better off than employees across the U.S.

The county also employed a disproportionately high number of marine architects and engineers.

Those were a few takeaways from fresh local wage data released by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics last week. The detailed numbers, available for perusal online, estimate wages across all industries for May of 2013.

According to BLS, the average hourly wage in Kitsap was $23.59. The national average was $22.33. That’s a 6 percent difference.

The state average was $25.04, buoyed by the whopping $27.46 earned by Seattle/Tacoma/Everett workers.

Here’s a look at how Kitsap wages stacked up across the region (you can wave your clicker over any of these charts to see exact numbers):

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