WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- Wages for highly-paid Washington-area workers are rising more than twice as fast as for low-paid workers, The Washington Post reported.
Citing its own analysis of federal data, the newspaper said the rewards of the region's economic expansion are going disproportionately to those who are already well-paid, while the gap between rich and poor -- already wider in the region than it is elsewhere in the United States -- is growing even wider.
Businesspeople say changes in the global economy provide more bargaining power for educated workers and make lower-wage workers replaceable. The disparity is especially pronounced in a service economy like Washington's, the Post reported.
The newspaper described the D.C. region's economy as strong and said businesses are expanding -- hiring more software engineers, financial analysts, sales staff and other skilled workers. Because of the expanded hiring, wages for those workers is rising.
But companies are automating clerical work, moving call centers to locations where labor is cheaper and handling more business online -- contributing to a weakening demand for less-skilled workers.
