Women’s wages fall still further behind men in Idaho
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (KIFI)-A new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates women’s wages are falling further behind those of men in Idaho.
Women’s earnings, as a percent of men’s in Idaho, ranked 48th in the nation out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, based on 2019 statistics, the latest available. Nationwide, women earned $821 a week or 81.5% of the median for men. In Idaho, women had full-time median weekly earnings of $682 per week, or 74.2% of the median wage of men.
Men had median weekly earnings of $919 per week in Idaho, while the nationwide median was $1,007.
Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden said Idaho’s 2019 ratio of 74.2% compared to 79.5% in 2018. The women-to-men earnings ratio has ranged from a low of 71.2% in 1998 to a high of 87.6% in 2013. The state’s ratio fell below 75% in 2019 for the first time since 2005.
The Bureau report shows median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Mississippi at $830 and highest in New Jersey at $1,176.
Maryland had the highest women-to-men earnings ratio at 89.1%. Wyoming was the lowest at 72.5%.
The BLS report cautions that the differences among the states reflects the occupations and industries found in each state and the differences in composition of each state’s labor force. Sampling error at the state level is also considerably larger than it is for national estimates.
