Comparing Income

Too bad you don't work for the government.According to the Bureau ofEconomic Analysis (www.bea.doc.gov),personal income for government workersrose 1.9% between the last quarter of2002 and the first quarter of2003. During the same period, theincome of professional and business servicesworkers (eg, physicians) rose just0.9%. Geography had a lot to do withincome increases, too. States on the WestCoast and in the Northeast showed thesmallest income gains, while those in thefarm belt had the largest. North Dakotahad the biggest spurt in personal income,4.8%, followed closely by its neighbor,South Dakota, at 4.5%. Looking into thefuture, a separate survey of businessesshows that raises for this year will averagefrom 3.3% to 3.5%, the smallestincrease since the mid 1970s.