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Politics & Government

Local Weekly Paychecks Shrinking More Than National Average

New Bureau of Labor statistics show a drop of as much as $57 per week in DC Metro area.

Weekly paychecks in the Washington, DC-metro area appear to be shrinking more than the national average, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics cited in a Washington Examiner article.

Statistics comparing the average weekly employee wages from September 2011 to 2012 found a $10 drop for the average U.S. worker, but DC-area data paints a worse picture:

  • Workers in Prince George’s County brought home $22 less per week in September 2012 than they did in September 2011.
  • Fairfax County employees’ weekly checks were $31 lighter.
  • Employees in Arlington County lost almost six times the national average, about $57 per paycheck.
  • In Montgomery County, the drop-off was actually less than the national average, with employees earning $7 less per week.

Despite the decline, Washington area workers still earn more than most others in the nation.

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Stephen Fuller, economist at George Mason University, told the Examiner that the decline in pay is “the result of “a significant demographic shift, in which older workers who are often at the top of the pay scale either retire or get laid off and are replaced by younger employees willing to accept significantly lower salaries.”

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