Author: Dwight Steward, Ph.D.

Dr. Steward regularly writes and speaks on topics involving business and individual economic damages, employment audits, and the analysis of payroll and time data in wage and hour investigations. Dr. Steward has also held teaching positions at The University of Texas-Austin in the Department of Economics and in the Red McCombs School of Business, The College of Business at Sam Houston State University, and at The University of Iowa. He has taught numerous courses in statistics, corporate finance, labor economics, business policies, managerial economics, and microeconomics.

Earnings report for Technology jobs

stem

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.

prices_2014_12

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.

production_2014_09

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

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.

 

 

 

 

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 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. roustabout_2014_10

Source: BLS

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

California job openings increased from September to October

The number of job openings in California decreased from 464,759 in September 2014 to 499,494 in October 2014. The median number of job searchers per job opening across all MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) and occupations in California was 0.97 in September 2014 and 0.91 in October 2014.

CA_2014_10

Source: BLS

Wage and hour question of the day: Does #FLSA cover alternative work schedules?

The FLSA does not address flexible or alternative work schedules.  According to the DOL, Alternative work arrangements such as flexible work schedules are a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee (or the employee’s representative).  The DOL has numerous articles and opinion letters concerning alternative and flexible work schedules.  A example of a 2009 DOL opinion letter can be found here.

 

 

 

STEM jobs decreased in both CA and TX for the month of September

California experienced a decrease of 3,544 innovation job openings from August 2014 to September 2014, a decrease of 4.94%. Texas experienced a decrease of 2,406 innovation job openings from August 2014 to September 2014, a decrease of 5.57%.

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

STEM logo

State Total Openings Monthly Change Yearly Change
CA 68,277 -4.94% 13.21%
TX 40,804 -5.57% 12.12%

Source: BLS

Image source: http://projecttomorrowblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-am-scientist.html