The Oregonian’s weekly look at the numbers behind the state’s economy. View past installments here.

Oregon is enjoying a long, broad economic expansion that may be without precedent in the state’s history. Unemployment is at a record low, 3.9%, and incomes are soaring.

The good times, though, are much, much better for some than for others.

A new analysis by Barbara Peniston with the Oregon Employment Department finds a wide gap between the state’s richest and the rest of us – and it shows the gap is getting wider.

“High-wage workers' slice of the wage pie has increased in size,” Peniston found, “while that of low- and middle-wage workers has shrunk.”

The new findings mirror national studies on income disparities, which show economic inequality in the U.S. is at its highest point on record despite declining poverty and jobless rates.

In Oregon, Peniston looked at income variations for the highest earners and the overall working population.

Median wages for all Oregon workers climbed from $35,812 in 1990 to $40,979 in 2018 -- a 14.4% increase (to account for inflation, Peniston adjusted the historical data to 2018 dollars.)

Median wages for the top-earning 1% climbed more than 50% in that same period, from $250,800 to $380,500.

The increase was even more extreme for the richest 0.1%, whose median income doubled between 1990 to 2018 – to $1.0 million.

The disparity in income growth helps explain why economic hardships persist for many Oregonians, despite the state’s long economic expansion. Nearly half of households who rent in the Portland area spend more than 30% of their paycheck on rent – economists consider that to be a benchmark for financial security, with households spending more than that considered “rent burdened.”

There is evidence in the last three years that some of the most extreme disparities have slowed. Peniston said that’s likely due to Oregon’s rising minimum wage, which increased from $4.75 to $10.75 an hour (and higher in the metro areas) between 1990 and 2018.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699