COEUR D’alene, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s high unemployment rate is affecting the wages received by those who still have jobs.
An Idaho Department of Labor report says the state’s median wage for all occupations rose less than 0.8 percent between spring 2008 and spring 2009.
IDL spokesman Bob Fick says with 60,000 to 70,000 people out of work, employers aren’t feeling any pressure to raise wages. Fick says the good news is that the median wage didn’t go down.
Idaho’s median wage went up 11 cents an hour to $14.43 in 2009. The median wage is the point at which half the workers make more and half make less.
Nationally, the median wage increased by 38 cents to $15.95 from spring 2008 to spring 2009.
The state’s unemployment rate was 8.9 percent in August.
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