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New York City's bustling economy is beginning to produce labor shortages that are driving up wages and salaries.
The effects of the tightening have been most obvious on Wall Street and in technology sectors where workers can just about write their own tickets. But in recent months, the labor market has begun to tighten in thriving industries like restaurants, tourism and business services, where law and accounting firms are finding themselves battling over professionals. And as a sign that shortages are spreading into the economy at large, administrative assistants are becoming a scarce commodity for virtually all companies.
"Companies are waving money under their noses to get them to take jobs," says Kathy Klein, vice president of Career Blazers Inc., an employment service agency. "The supply for office assistants, legal secretaries and administrative help is tighter than a drum."
The phenomenon is not by any means universal. The city's 9.8% unemployment rate is far higher than elsewhere in the nation, and there are plenty of low-skilled workers. The city's lowest-paid workers saw inflation-adjusted wages decline 7% since 1991, while compensation in the highest-paying jobs climbed 60% in the same period, according to a recent report by New York state Comptroller Carl McCall.
In the retail industry, the city's largest employer, companies say they can find all the help they need. And in health care, workers continue to be displaced from higher-paying hospital jobs into lower-paying jobs in off-site clinics and in home care.
But in segments...