The labor market is tightening just as U. S. companies are flush with cash from tax cuts. Wages and personal income statistics will be under the…
The labor market is tightening just as U. S. companies are flush with cash from tax cuts. Wages and personal income statistics will be under the spotlight.
The U. S. economy added 200,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent, the labor department reported Friday. The unemployment rate has been slowly declining since a peak of 10 percent in 2009.
Here’s a snapshot of average local wages and Texas income statistics as companies tally their tax savings for 2018 and beyond.
The average hourly wage in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington from private sector employers in December increased to $27.24 up from $26.43 the prior year. Hourly wages don’t always go up, said Bureau of Labor Statistics regional economist Cheryl Abbot. Average hourly wages in the region declined from September 2015 to September 2016 due to the oil and gas downturn, she said.
Wages are higher in the Dallas-Plano-Irving section of the region. The December average hourly wage from private sector employers was $28.06 versus $26.93 a year ago. The average wage is lower on the Fort Worth-Arlington side: $25.31 in December versus $25.24 a year earlier.
The decade of strong economic and population growth in Texas – from 2006 to 2016 — moved the state’s total personal income ranking to second behind California and ahead of New York.
However, when personal income is viewed on a per capita basis, Texas is below average. It’s catching up. Personal income in Texas grew 0.9 percent in the third quarter versus the second quarter. That was faster than the U. S. growth rate of 0.7 percent.
In 2016, the state’s per capital personal income of $46,274 ranking Texas 25 th among states and below the U. S. average of $49,246. Texas per capita rose to $47,018 in the third quarter, the most recent available data.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
