Report: Wage disparity growing.

Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

The highest-powered doctors, lawyers and corporate chiefs have fared far better financially than other Oregonians since 1990, a state report indicates.

Wage earners in the top 2 percent saw their incomes grow 23 percent beyond inflation from 1990 to 2003, to $125,765 or more, the state said. That's an increase of more than $23,000.

That compares with earnings of $14,416 for those in the lowest fifth of Oregon earners, up $1,000, or 7 percent after inflation, since 1990. Economists attribute that increase, in part, to Oregon's minimum wage law, which boosted the rates to $6.50 an hour from $4.75 during the late 1990s.

State economists compiled the wage calculations in a report titled "Wage Inequality in Oregon - Still Growing?" that was released Tuesday.

The study does not try to explain the reasons for the widening wage gap.

"All we know is we have the data and that's what it shows," said Eric Moore, senior analyst with the Oregon Employment Department. "We just put the information out."

The issue of wage disparity occasionally flares in Oregon's political arena - especially when proposals arise that might help one income group at the expense of another.

"Some argue there's no need to be concerned because (disparity) just means that the people who have the most skills are getting the most pay and that's how it should be," Moore said.

"The other side would say there is a problem, that it isn't good for society to have such a wide disparity; and, middle class, family-wage type jobs are important, and we need to do a better job of providing those jobs," he said.

Oregon is among the top 10 states on measures of income inequality and for its ever-widening gap between classes, according to a recent study done by the Economic Policy Institute titled "Pulling Apart: A State-By-State Analysis of Income Trends."

WAGE FACTS

Here's where Oregon wage earners stand:

Low income: Those earning $14,416 or less a year in 2003 - at the 20th percentile of Oregon workers - gained 7 percent in wages since 1990, adjusted for inflation.

Middle income: Those earning $28,698 in 2003 - putting them at dead center of Oregon wage earners - gained 4 percent since 1990, adjusted for inflation.

High wage earners: Those earning $67,086 or more - putting them at the state's 90th percentile - gained 13 percent since 1990.

The rich: Those earning $125,765 or more - the top 2 percent for Oregon - gained 23 percent since 1990.

See more of the Oregon Labor Market Information System's wage report at www.qualityinfo.org