Utahns' pay hikes lag behind U.S. average

Utah workers reported their pay increased an average of 3.52 percent in 2004, short of the national average and less than their pay increase in 2003, according to a survey released this week.

Compdata Surveys, a Kansas City-based compensation and benefits survey data provider, reported that employees in the Utah-Colorado region saw an average 3.52 percent increase in their pay this year, as of March 1. The results were based on interviews with more than 200,000 full-time workers in the two states. Last year, employees reported a 3.59 percent average increase in pay.

"Economic recovery is slow, and we haven't seen any growth indicators in the data we have received," said Amy Kaminski, Compdata spokeswoman, when asked about the decline. "Employers are still wary to increase their budgets, possibly due to a lack of confidence in job creation."

Utah companies' pay increase budgets were set lower than the national average, Compdata reported. Nationwide, the projected pay increase budgets for 2004 average 3.6 percent, slightly higher than the 2003 national average of 3.57 percent.

The company gathered information from 200,403 full-time employees in private, public, government and not-for-profit organizations in the two states. Of those, the majority of employees — 30.1 percent — worked in the manufacturing industry. In total, the company received information on 5,060 jobs covering 500 occupations in the two states.

Mark Knold, senior economist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, said the figures may reflect the effect of higher unemployment rates.

"In the late 1990s, employees had the upper hand — it was a tight labor market, and employers had a harder time finding and keeping workers. Wages were a primary way they did that," Knold said. "Now, there's a higher number of idle workers sitting out there, and the advantage falls to the employers, because there are workers — more than just one — knocking on the door for that job. When the economy improves and some of these employees start jumping ship for something better, then you'll see the wage increases again."

The Compdata survey differs from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data in that it combines Utah and Colorado survey information. The Compdata survey also does not separate wage and benefits information, as the bureau does.