Idaho's $11,000/worker Wage Gap: Why? Which sectors are responsible? What can we do about it?

Steve Cooke
Associate Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics

January 22
Gold Room, Student Union Building- 12:30 p.m.

Abstract: In 2005, the Rocky Mountain states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming) average annual wage per job was about $4,000 less than the U.S. average. In 2009, Idaho’s average wage per job was $10,700 less.  Idaho’s wage gap was the result of a positive sector bias on employment growth in influential low-wage sectors and negative sector bias on employment growth and the low level of wages in the influential high-wage sectors. The economy of the Rocky Mountain region can be characterized as caught in a low-skill/low-wage equilibrium trap.