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Gender pay gap narrows a bit in Washington

The Columbian
Published: February 7, 2015, 4:00pm

SEATTLE — The gender pay gap in Washington state is still wide — but at least it’s getting narrower.

Women in Washington made 79.3 percent of what men made in 2013, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That puts Washington state 33rd in the nation in terms of the ratio of women’s to men’s earnings. That’s pretty low but still better than in 2012, when all but five states had smaller pay gaps.

Women in this state who worked full time in 2013 earned a median of $764 a week, while men earned $963 a week, according to the bureau.

Back in 2012, women in Washington earned only 76 percent of what men made. The median weekly pay for women then was $746, compared with $982 for men.

The median pay for men was down 1.9 percent from 2012 to 2013, while for women it rose 2.4 percent.

The ratio of women’s to men’s earnings in this state has ranged in recent years from a low of 71.9 percent in 2000 to a high of 79.5 percent in 2007, according to the bureau, which also noted that the ratio has remained above 75 percent for eight of the past 10 years.

Both men’s and women’s weekly earnings in Washington state ranked 10th in the nation.

Though the gender pay gap narrowed in Washington, it was still worse than the national ratio, in which women earned 82.1 percent of what men made. Women working full time in 2013 earned median weekly pay of $706, compared with $860 for men.

That ratio was slightly up from 80.9 percent in 2012.

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