COUNTY WAGE GROWTH UNDER U.S. AVERAGE
For many, pay increases aren’t keeping pace with higher costs, expert says
Even if inflation is getting you down, at least wages are up for most San Diegans.
In the first three months of this year, wages were up 6.2 percent annually in San Diego County, said data released Wednesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was below the 6.6 percent average for the nation, but still above many California counties.
The bureau calculates wage growth by looking at the average weekly wage, which was $1,465 for the nation, and breaks down the numbers by county. It said the average weekly pay in San Diego County was $1,575.
Growth in wages for a given industry sometimes has more to do with how low it started. The largest wage growth in San Diego County, 13.9 percent, was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes tourism work in hotels, casinos, bars and restaurants. It is the lowest-paying sector in the county at $706 a month.
All sectors had year-over-year wage growth. Government, mainly education, was up 13.7 percent for a weekly wage of $1,712.
It was followed by the services sector (laundry, maintenance, religious), up 9.8 percent to $842 a week; private education and health services (private schools, nursing, social assistance), up 9.2 percent for a weekly wage of $1,196; information (telecommunications, data processing), up 9.1 percent for a weekly wage of $2,783; and up 7.7 percent for manufacturing with a weekly wage of $2,283.
Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego, said wage growth is likely not keeping up with inflation for many workers, especially when it comes to housing. As of March, around the same time as the wage data, the San Diego metropolitan area had an annual inflation rate of 5.3 percent, with housing costs up 10.1 percent.
“The problem in San Diego is housing inflation,” he said, “both single-family (mortgages) and rentals. That is basically eating up a lot of the increase people are go
ing to get.”
Gin said many of the workers in industries where wages didn’t go up as much could now be paid less since last year — despite raises — when considering inflation.
The economist said wage growth in low-skill areas, like tourism, is likely related to employers struggling to find workers.
Industries with slower growth include construction, up 7.4 percent with a weekly wage of $1,529; trade, transportation and utilities, up 7.1 for a weekly wage of $1,225; financial activities (insurance, investments, real estate), up 3 percent with a weekly wage of 2,403; and professional and business services — which includes tech and biotech workers — grew 1.6 percent to a weekly wage of $2,211.
The bureau reported on sectors, not individual professions. This makes analysis of the recent push for a $25 minimum wage for health care workers tricky because the private education and health services category includes higher-paid nurses, as well as the lowestpaying health care professions. Weekly wages in this category rose 9.2 percent to $1,196.
San Diego County ranked sixth in wage growth among the 10 largest U.S. counties by population. The largest growth, 9.8 percent, was in Harris County, home to Houston. It was followed by Miami-Dade, up 9.4 percent, and King County, home to Seattle, up 7.3 percent.
New York County — Manhattan — was down 3.5 percent annually.
Across the U.S. natural resources and mining had the fastest wage growth, up 13.8 percent to $1,546 weekly wage. The category includes lucrative work in oil and gas extraction.
San Diego County pays more than the U.S. average in almost all sectors. For example, the weekly average for leisure and hospitality workers is $597 at the national level, but $706 in San Diego County.
There are three categories where the national average is higher than San Diego County.
Information jobs pay a weekly average of $3,142 in the United States, which is $359 more a week than in San Diego County.
Financial activities jobs pay $607 more nationally per week and services jobs pay $129 more.