Median house prices for all three MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) rose from October 2014 to November 2014.
Image source: http://www.asemooni.com/news/economic-news/the-president-agreed-with-the-increase-in-housing
FLSA OT report for Plastics Product Manufacturing
In this post, we look at the weekly overtime (OT) hours typically worked by those who are in Plastics Product Manufacturing.
Many of the employees that work in these jobs are not exempt from FLSA overtime pay and earn 1.5 times pay for hours worked over 40 in a given week.
The tabulations below are 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. Also, some companies may have the job title listed here as exempt from FLSA or state OT due to their specific job assignments. The BLS does not make a distinction as to if the job title is exempt or non-exempt from OT.
| Job Title | Percent of OT Workers | Average Hours of OT | 1 out of every 4 (25%) OT workers works at least: |
| Plastics Product Manufacturing | 27.72% | 9.32 hours | 53.5 hours |
Source: BLS (CPS March)
Medical care commodities inflate more than general inflation from Oct to Nov
The consumer price index (CPI) went down from 37.909 in October 2014 to 237.428 in November 2014, an annualized rate of 3.08%.
The price index for medical care commodities went up at an annualized rate of 7.33% from October 2014 to November 2014. During the same period, the price index also increased for medical care services (4.78%), hospital and related services (2.98%), and professional services (6.05%).
Source: BLS
Image source: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-54762670/stock-photo-background-concept-illustration-consumer-price-index.html
Earnings report for Engineering jobs
In this post, we look at some average earnings typical for particular occupations in the engineering 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.
Engineering STEM Salaries
| Job Title | Average Salary |
| Computer Hardware Engineers | $ 100,035.90 |
| Aerospace Engineers | $ 94,492.37 |
| Chemical engineers | $ 93,862.07 |
| Electrical and electronic engineers | $ 90,567.73 |
| Civil Engineers | $ 88,076.48 |
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/
FLSA OT report for Support Activities for Mining
In this post, we look at the weekly overtime (OT) hours typically worked by those who are in the support activities for mining subsector. This subsector is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector, and is further defined below by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
“Industries in the Support Activities for Mining subsector group establishments primarily providing support services, on a contract or fee basis, required for the mining and quarrying of minerals and for the extraction of oil and gas. Establishments performing exploration (except geophysical surveying and mapping) for minerals, on a contract or fee basis, are included in this subsector. Exploration includes traditional prospecting methods, such as taking core samples and making geological observations at prospective sites.”
-North American Industry Classification System
Many of the employees that work in these jobs are not exempt from FLSA overtime pay and earn 1.5 times pay for hours worked over 40 in a given week.
The tabulations below are 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. Also, some companies may have the job title listed here as exempt from FLSA or state OT due to their specific job assignments. The BLS does not make a distinction as to if the job title is exempt or non-exempt from OT.
| Job Title | Percent of OT Workers | Average Hours of OT | 1 out of every 4 (25%) OT workers works at least: |
| Support Activities for Mining | 50.19% | 22.55 hours | 80 hours |
Source: BLS (CPS March)
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/