The average Utah weekly wage reached $660 in the first quarter, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this week. That was 8.9 percent higher than in the same three months of last year. In Salt Lake County, the average wage was $744, a 9.4 percent jump.

By contrast, the U.S. average of $838 a week was 8.1 percent higher than a year earlier - indicating wage growth across the country did not keep pace with Utah and its biggest county.

"The fact that in Utah and Salt Lake County that the average weekly wage is growing faster than the national average, to me, that is a positive for employers and employees," said Bureau economist Linda Nickisch on Thursday.

Yet while local wages are rising fast, pay rates in Utah still lag national averages. The average Utah wage is 21 percent below the average weekly wage paid to workers in other parts of the country. Salt Lake County is 11 percent below the U.S. average.

At first glance, the deficits suggest Utah doesn't have jobs that pay well. But that conclusion is wrong, said Mark Knold, senior economist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

The government computes weekly average wages by dividing total wages paid by the total number of workers and by the number of weeks in a quarter. What it doesn't consider, Knold said: How much younger Utah's work force is or its higher percentage of part-time employees.

That means federal numbers can be misleading.

In Utah, 47 percent of the work force is 35 or younger, an amount higher than any other state. Only Texas, with 38 percent of its workers younger than 35, comes close, he said.

"The U.S. has a rather old work force dominated by baby boomers," Knold said. "A huge chunk of the people who are contributing to total wages [in Utah] are young wage earners. So what we have is an experience deficit, rather than a wage deficit."

Utah also leads the nation in part-time workers. Knold said 20 percent of the state's work force is not employed full-time, which pulls down the statewide wage average significantly. When part-time employment is considered, the average Utah wage is 8 percent below the U.S. average.

"This is another example in the contrast in our demographics, versus the national demographics, influencing a statistical outcome," Knold said.

pbeebe@sltrib.com