Average Weekly Earnings Rising in Oregon

With the economy slowly recovering over the last two years, Oregon workers have seen their average weekly earnings rise. In December 2011, Oregon's private-sector jobs on nonfarm payrolls averaged $753.74 per week. That represents an increase of 6.1 percent from December 2009, when these jobs averaged $710.16 per week.

Some of the gains in weekly earnings can be attributed to an increase in the length of the average workweek. In December 2009, the private-sector workweek averaged 33.0 hours. By December 2011, the workweek increased moderately to 33.8 hours. However, most of the wage gains were due to a rise in average hourly earnings, which rose from $21.52 to $22.30 over the two-year period.So, many workers are working longer hours and getting paid a little more for each hour. These two factors together have resulted in gains in average weekly earnings for private-sector payroll employees.

For more information on average weekly earnings, contact Economist David Cooke.