Wage Study Not as Rosy as Jobs Report

Orange County’s employment has rebounded nicely in the last couple of years. But workers are hardly having a ball, and the latest annual government survey on wages shows why.

The U.S. Labor Department’s most comprehensive, local study of occupational pay confirms that a lot of people’s earnings are barely keeping up with inflation. And for some entry-level professionals and blue-collar workers, their income appears to be falling.

Between August 1994 and August 1995, the average weekly pay for entry-level accountants in Orange County dropped from $646 to $641. Engineers in the early stages of their careers earned $832 a week in 1995, down from $843 a year earlier, and young computer programmers saw their pay drop to $646 from $659.

Experienced professionals in the county fared better. Senior accountants, for example, earned an average of $1,063 a week in 1995--up $30 from 1994. Some of the others: registered nurses (up from $820 to $827); high-level personnel managers ($1,055 to $1,101); mid-level attorneys ($1,377 to $1,440).

The picture was far worse for industrial workers. The hourly pay of janitors fell from $7.07 in August 1994 to $6.78 a year later; warehouse workers, down from $10.95 to $10.24; and light-truck drivers, $8.10 to $7.66.

Don Lee covers workplace issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at don.lee@latimes.com