this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be found .
(snip)"For feds, more get 6-figure salaries
Average pay $30,000 over private sector
By Dennis Cauchon
USA TODAY
The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.
Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.
Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.
The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.
When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.
The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules.
"There's no way to justify this to the American people. It's ridiculous," says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House's federal workforce subcommittee. (snip)
(snip)"The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.
Key reasons for the boom in six-figure salaries:
•Pay hikes. Then-president Bush recommended — and Congress approved — across-the-board raises of 3% in January 2008 and 3.9% in January 2009. President Obama has recommended 2% pay raises in January 2010, the smallest since 1975. Most federal workers also get longevity pay hikes — called steps — that average 1.5% per year.
•New pay system. Congress created a new National Security Personnel System for the Defense Department to reward merit, in addition to the across-the-board increases. The merit raises, which started in January 2008, were larger than expected and rewarded high-ranking employees. In October, Congress voted to end the new pay scale by 2012.
•Pay caps eased. Many top civil servants are prohibited from making more than an agency's leader. But if Congress lifts the boss' salary, others get raises, too. When the Federal Aviation Administration chief's salary rose, nearly 1,700 employees' had their salaries lifted above $170,000, too. "(snip)
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Re: this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be fou
^^ Those small increments do not seem to have caused this escalation alone.
Re: this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be fou
^^^ well, calculating out the effect of a 3% COLA plus a 1.5% longevity of service = 4.5% annual increase, that constitutes a 24.6% average pay rate increase over the course of 5 years. Add in some additional 'merit' raises and you're probably looking at a 35%-40% increase over those 5 years. Over the same time period, private sector workers arguably received far lower increases ... or may actually have seen pay CUTS as a result of layoffs and job rotation. And that doesn't factor in the near certainty that there are very few public sector workers who have received pink slips, compared to an arguable 18% of private sector workers who are now without a paycheck.
But regardless of the exact reasons, the clear fact remains that public sector employees now have more money to spend than ever before, while most private sector employees do not. This in turn leads to an 'opportunity' for dancers who are willing to 'do their homework' and identify potential cities / clubs where public sector employees make up a significant portion of a club's customer base.
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Re: this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be fou
interesting. it is good to know that at least one sizeable group of people has more money than before to spend these days!
Re: this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be fou
^^ Yeah. Now, if they would only spend it on you.
Re: this 'income' data may give dancers a hint as to where the 'money' can now be fou
D.C. clubs should be a boon for dancers. Do any D.C. dancers notice this?