Wages rise in Oklahoma City area

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Wages in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area rose during the past year but are still lower than in cities like Dallas, Houston and New Orleans.<br/><br/>A Bureau of Labor Statistics

Thursday, July 7th 2005, 10:05 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Wages in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area rose during the past year but are still lower than in cities like Dallas, Houston and New Orleans.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics survey says Oklahoma City area workers earned $16.06 per hour on average in January.

US Department of Labor economist Cheryl Abbot says workers in Dallas averaged $20.22 per hour. In Houston the average is $19.85 and it's $16.71 per hour in New Orleans.

The survey found Oklahoma City area white-collar workers averaged $17.52 per hour, blue-collar workers $15.73 per hour and service workers averaged $10.33 per hour. Union workers in blue-collar jobs averaged $22.07 per hour while nonunion blue-collar workers earned $13.35.

Abbot says the bureau surveys wages in 81 metropolitan areas, but Oklahoma City is the only one in Oklahoma that's surveyed.