December 2014 – Economic Thinking In Action

Earnings report for Technology jobs

In this post, we look at some average earnings typical for particular occupations in the technology field. The tabulation below is based on U.S. BLS survey data. The BLS job title groups are insightful, generally containing more specific job titles with similar knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA), but can be more broad than a particular company’s job title listing.

Technology STEM Salaries

Job Title	Average Salary
Software Developers, Applications and Systems Software	$ 93,227.46
Computer Systems Analysts	$ 83,334.38
Computer Programmers	$ 82,647.55
Computer Occupations, All Other	$ 65,948.52
Computer support Specialists	$ 58,163.96

Source: BLS

Image source: http://fairmountinc.com/help-wanted-1-2-million-good-paying-jobs-available/

Our definition of STEM jobs: http://www.employstats.com/blog/2014/09/19/growing-national-interest-in-stem-fields-has-focused-our-research/

Natural gas prices increased while crude oil prices continue to fall in Dec.

WTI crude oil price decreased from $78.77 per barrel in November 2014 to $68.98 per barrel at the start of December 2014. Natural gas price rose from $3.82 per million BTU (one million BTU is approximately 974 cubic feet) in November 2014 to $4.30 per million BTU to start off December 2014.

Texas crude oil production for September 2014 was 65,824,450 barrels, down from 75,669,936 barrels reported in August 2014. Texas natural gas production was 595,603,581 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas in September 2014, down from the August 2014 gas production total of 668,465,202 Mcf.

Sources: eia.gov, rrc.state.tx.us

Texas RN’s, therapists, and PA’s see increase in job openings from Sept. to Oct.

The number of job openings in Texas for nurses, therapists, and physician assistants increased from 10,248 to 10,580 from September 2014 to October 2014. The searcher-to-job opening ratio decreased from 0.86 to 0.81 during that same span.

Source: BLS

Image source: http://www.carrollhs.org/s/1253/index.aspx?pgid=877

Beginning stages of expanding econometric model of worklife expectancy by Millimet, D. Nieswiadomy, M. & Slottje, D.

Worklife expectancy is one of the most significant variables employed by economists to calculate the monetary award in cases involving wrongful death or personal injury. We are in the progress of updating the econometric model of worklife expectancy of Millimet et al.

In the coming days and weeks we will be reporting on our progress and providing output tables as we produce them.

Some woklife expectancy references:

Flinn C.J. & Heckman J.J. (1982) “New Methods for Analyzing Structural Models of Labor Force Dynamics” Advances in Econometrics.

Millimet, D., Nieswiadomy, M., Ryu, H. & Slottje, D. (2003). “Estimating worklife expectancy: an econometric approach.” Journal of Econometrics.

Millimet, D. Nieswiadomy, M. & Slottje, D. (2010). “Detailed Estimation of Worklife Expectancy for the Measurement of Human Capital: Accounting for Marriage and Family.” Journal of Economic Surveys.

Nelson, D. (1983). “The use of worklife tables in estimates of lost earning capacity.” Monthly Labor Review.

Nieswiadomy, M., and Silberberg, E. (1988). “Calculating Changes in Worklife Expectancies and Lost Earnings in Personal Injury Cases.” The Journal of Risk and Insurance.

Skoog, G. R. and Ciecka, J.E. (2001). “The Markov (Increment-Decrement) Model of Labor Force Activity: New Results beyond Work-Life Expectancies.” Journal of Legal Economics.

Earnings report for Science jobs

In this post, we look at some average earnings typical for particular occupations in the science field. The tabulation below is based on U.S. BLS survey data. The BLS job title groups are insightful, generally containing more specific job titles with similar knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA), but can be more broad than a particular company’s job title listing.

Science STEM Salaries

Job Title	Average Salary
Physician Assistants	$ 108,837.21
Pharmacists	$ 96,866.57
Biological Scientists	$ 67,490.59
Registered Nurses	$ 62,350.85
Phlebotomists	$ 31,295.76

Source: BLS

Image source: http://fairmountinc.com/help-wanted-1-2-million-good-paying-jobs-available/

Our definition of STEM jobs: http://www.employstats.com/blog/2014/09/19/growing-national-interest-in-stem-fields-has-focused-our-research/

Texas healthcare jobs increased by 0.8% from Sept. to Oct.

healthcare

The health care and social assistance industry gained 11,400 jobs from September 2014 to October 2014. Compared to October 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 47,300, an annual increase of 3.6%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2121_TLMR-November_14.pdf

Image source: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2012/01/06/health-care-sector-adds-jobs-as-overall-employment-picture-looks-healthier/

Texas oil and gas extraction jobs increased by 0.3% from Sept. to Oct.

The oil and gas extraction industry in Texas gained 300 jobs from September 2014 to October 2014. Compared to October 2013, the cumulative number of jobs added in this industry is 8,200, an increase of 7.8%.

Source: http://www.tracer2.com/admin/uploadedPublications/2121_TLMR-November_14.pdf

Image Source: http://www.eliteexploration.com/texas-oil-gas-companies/

Texas hydro-fracturing job openings increased from in October

petroleum engineer

The number of job openings in Texas for “petroleum engineers” and “geological and petroleum technicians” increased from 634 in September 2014 to 765 in October 2014, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio decreased from 0.99 to 0.83 in the same span.

petro_engineer_2014_10

The number of job openings in Texas for “derrick operators” and “roustabouts” increased from 270 in September 2014 to 353 in October 2014, while the searcher-to-job opening ratio decreased from 10.87 to 8.0 in the same span.

Source: BLS

Image source: http://wonderfulengineering.com/what-is-petroleum-engineering/

Texas job openings by major occupational group for October

Texas October 2014

Total number of job openings and median searcher-to-job ratio across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) for each major occupational group in Texas in October 2014.

Occupation	Job Openings	Searcher-to-Job Ratio
Management, business, and financial occupations	93,828	0.4
Service occupations	109,699	0.73
Office and administrative support occupations	83,681	0.79
Sales and related occupations	48,583	0.97
Professional and related occupations	144,040	1.22
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	1,823	1.31
Construction and extraction occupations	17,840	40.5

Source: BLS

3 of 4 largest MSAs in Cali see annual increase in job openings for Oct.

san_diego_2014_10

Compared to October of last year, 3 of the 4 main MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) in California saw an annual increase in the number of job openings and decrease in the searcher-to-job opening ratio; Riverside was the only MSA that did not.

Source: BLS