Spokane County has some altitude to climb to close a wage disparity with the West Side and the nationwide average hourly wage, the latest data show, but regional economists and business leaders say they aren't overly concerned.

Rather, observers of labor data here say some top employment sectors, such as health care, advanced manufacturing, and protective services, are working to close the gap.

"There is a wage gap in the state that's really skewed by King County," says Doug Tweedy, Spokane-based regional economist for the Washington state Employment Security Department. "If you take King County out and compare Spokane with the rest of the state, that wage gap is actually narrowing, and we're gaining ground."

Despite observers' optimism, Spokane-area workers' average hourly wage of $20.65 in May 2012 trailed the nationwide average of $22.01 by 6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month. That was a wider disparity than the 5 percent gap in the year-earlier month.

The May 2012 Washington state average hourly wage was $24.59, Tweedy says.

In the most recent data, workers in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metropolitan area, which has a high number of high-tech and engineering jobs, had an average hourly wage of $27.68 in May 2012, about 26 percent above the nationwide average.

The BLS says workers in the Kennewick-Pasco-Richland metropolitan statistical area had an average hourly wage of $23.29 in May 2012; Wenatchee-East Wenatchee had an average hourly wage of $19.75; Yakima, $18.89; Olympia, $22.37; and Tacoma, $22.42.

Looking back, the BLS listed the Spokane average wage at $20.24 in May 2010; $19.72 in 2009; and $19 in 2008. For those years, Spokane ranged between 5 percent and 6.5 percent below the national average wages.

Tweedy says he expects Spokane's wage gap to narrow soon, though, especially based on employment gains for the second half of 2012 and so far this year in sectors with higher pay, such as for new jobs here in professional, scientific, and technical industries.

"We're seeing that change in 2012 because of the kinds of jobs we've lost and the kinds of jobs we've gained; we anticipate a change," he says. "We're losing a lot of retail jobs but gaining in higher-paying sectors."

Robin Toth, Greater Spokane Incorporated's vice president of business development, also says that while Spokane's average wage is lower than the West Side, economic indicators here are showing promise that the gap is narrowing.

"We know we typically have a lower average wage than the West Side, and some of that is our lower cost of living," she says. "Some of it is the type of jobs over here, but while our average wage is 6 percent lower than the national average, the jobs that are growing here have a far higher average wage now."

She adds, "Our cost of living is about 6 percent less than the national average. That makes a difference."

Toth says a measure GSI has used recently is an average wage in Spokane of $38,700 annually, based on 2010 data. One approach to grow that average, she adds, is helping existing industries here grow. One example includes jobs related to training medical students at the Washington State University Biomedical and Health Sciences Building, on the Riverpoint Campus.

Toth says some of that growth in higher-paying industries is already occurring, including for companies doing advanced manufacturing in metal composites and aerospace.

"In advanced manufacturing, where a lot of hiring is going on right now, they're hiring at about $10,000 higher than that average wage, so it would be at about $48,000 to $50,000," Toth says. "Some professional and scientific jobs are even higher."

Grant Forsyth, Avista Corp. chief economist who produces economic forecasts for Avista's three-state service territory, says that rather than average wage comparisons, he watches another indicator more closely—inflation-adjusted wage data—to measure people's real buying power.

When adjusting for inflation based on a standard price index, average wages here have stayed relatively flat for the past five years, he adds.

"What's happening with that concerns me more than any wage gap," he says. "That has a big influence on what's happening to the standard of living. If you adjust for inflation, and it's flat, then the purchasing power of your wage isn't going to change, or your ability to buy goods and services isn't changing over time."

He says in some areas of the U.S., the adjusted figure shows that purchasing power has increased, and in others it's declined or remained flat.

What areas can do to raise wage profiles isn't a quick fix, he adds.

"It's not that you can move your industrial mix one way or another," Forsyth says.

However, he adds that steps include helping businesses already here to grow and expand, including small businesses that pay relatively high wages, with the goal of turning them into a larger share of an area's economy. Another way to improve an area's wage profile is to encourage high-wage businesses to move into Spokane, but that's exactly what every community in the U.S. is doing, he says.

"Your best bet is to look at your most promising industries and businesses in your region to grow and improve your wage profile, not only private but also government enterprises," he says.

Tweedy says the wages in different regions are going to recover at a different pace following the recession. In addition to promising health care jobs here, he adds that job and wage growth are occurring in the industry categories of manufacturing, finance and insurance, transportation-warehousing, and in another group called professional, scientific, technical.

"I'm encouraged about the new jobs that are starting to increase in Spokane, which are in higher-pay industries," Tweedy says. "Those are the industries that are creating new jobs now at wage levels that are generally above the average."

Forsyth also says that when comparing wage data across the state or nationally, other factors to consider are cost-of-living indicators largely based on housing costs, the mix of business and industry employers in each region, and educational requirements for the typical jobs found in an area.

He says that when considering Spokane's wages, health care employment definitely stands out.

"The health care sector is one of the sectors helping us narrow that gap, and it's one of the higher-wage areas," Forsyth says. "It's interesting that Spokane wages for health care practitioners and for technical and health care support are both significantly above the United States average. It's a relatively large share of employment here as well."

Tweedy says the trend of health care employment offering generally higher average wages in the Spokane area is expected to continue.

He adds, "It takes four to five people to support one doctor. In health care, about 80 percent of the new jobs are requiring an AA degree or less."

In its report, the BLS highlights in its latest data that Spokane had some 8,000 jobs in health care support, which makes up 4.1 percent of area employment, significantly higher than the 3 percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for that occupation was $14.37, compared with the national wage of $13.36.

The largest health care support group here included about 2,000 nursing assistants, followed by medical assistants at 1,100, and dental assistants at 760. One higher-paying job was occupational therapy assistants, with an average hourly wage of $29.78.

Typically, occupational therapist assistants work under the guidance of occupational therapists to complete treatments to help people return to everyday roles after an injury or medical event. They work in acute care or rehabilitation hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, pediatric centers, mental health facilities, school districts, and return-to-work therapy centers.

Spokane Falls Community College recently started an occupational therapy assistant program requiring a two-year associate's degree in applied science, and its first 16 students in that program will graduate June 19, says Tamara Burt, that program's director. While the field has similarities to physical therapy, she says occupational therapists and assistants help people recuperate so that they can resume specific activities they need to complete every day.

She says that previously, educational programs for those assistants were located only on the West Side. After graduating, the students must pass a national certification exam and then apply for a state license, but graduates can start working under professional guidance and with a temporary state license while completing those requirements.

Burt says a typical starting pay for the assistant jobs is about $19 an hour and can be up to $25 an hour, with some variation depending on benefits.