Pay projected to rise for nurses, construction workers while doctors shed salary

If you are a doctor, lawyer or dentist, you might want to start saving your pennies. A construction worker or writer? Well, the good times are comings.

According to a report from TollFreeForwarding.com that looks at pay in the next 10 years, the incomes of those in more traditionally well-to-do professions will see a sharp decrease in their earnings by 2033. The hardest hit will be dentists, who’ll be making $13.72 less per hour in the next 10 years. Lawyers and doctors will earn $5 and $2.89 less per hour, respectively. (2033 projected salaries are adjusted for estimated inflation.)

While the trend points downward, no one’s going to need to start a GoFundMe campaign to help those professions out. That's because even with the drops, the three professions will remain the highest paid in 2033 — with doctors predicted to earn $118.62 per hour, dentists $73.94 per hour and lawyers $71.70 per hour.

To come up with the numbers, researchers used U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics annual mean hourly earnings data from 2013 to 2022 for each job. It then forecasted what each job would earn each year from 2023 until 2033. It used the Excel function forecast.ets, which, according to Microsoft, “calculates or predicts a future value based on existing (historical) values.” The report adjusted projections with an expected inflation rate of 2.13% estimated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

One of the biggest jumps in pay in the next decade will go to registered nurses, who will see their earnings jump $12.82 per hour to $58.31. Construction workers will also do well: Their earnings are predicted to jump $4.63 per hour to $38.52.

And, in news the Business Observer is happy to report, journalist pay will also sharply increase, growing $4.37 per hour to $42.27.

The financial lot for artists, writers and performers are expected to go up as well. The report says the Bureau of Labor Statistics believes “a continued demand for live music and digital media opportunities” will drive up the income growth for those in the in the arts by $7.99 per hour.