Pennsylvania's female full-time, year-round workers show larger increases in earnings than their male counterparts, The Pennsylvania State Data Center at Penn State Harrisburg said.

This does not mean, however, that women are making more money, said Sue Copella, director of the data center.

From 1989 to 1999, full-time female workers experienced an increase in earnings of about 13.1 percent, while men saw an increase of about 1.5 percent for the same time period, the data center reported.

"Their incomes increased at a larger percentage than males," Copella said. "It doesn't mean the women got bigger raises."

This data was taken from a study commissioned by the U.S. Census Bureau, Copella said. In the 2000 census, most people filled out a short census form, and some were randomly selected to fill out a longer form, she said.

The longer form was able to provide information on topics such as educational background, economic and poverty status and housing, as well as travel time to and from work, Copella said.

The study discovered that female full-time, year-round workers took in median earnings of $26,687 in 1999, which is an increase of $3,084 from $23,603 in 1989. Male full-time, year-round workers had a median earning of $37,051 in 1999, an increase of $541 compared to the 1989 amount of $36,510.

All 1989 figures are adjusted for difference in income type and inflation, the data center said.

Gretchen Cornwell, Penn State assistant professor of rural sociology and demography, notes some possible reasons for the study's results.

"The wage gap is getting smaller now that more women are employed in jobs that were once gender-segregated or traditionally viewed as male," she said.

Besides the shrinking earnings difference, women are putting in increased time at their jobs, Cornwell said.

"Since women have been working more continually, they have been able to develop the same work patterns as males and are more likely to receive raises or get promotions in the workplace," Cornwell said. "When we look at young women in the workplace we know they make close to what men make."

Sullivan County showed the largest increase in female median earnings at 34.8 percent, with Juniata County showing the second highest percent jump at 34.5 percent. Potter, Chester and Northampton counties followed. Montgomery County had the highest female median earnings at $35,089, the data center said.

Centre County's female full-time, year-round workers displayed an increase of 11.8 percent in earnings from 1989 to 1999, while the salary's of men rose 2.7 percent.

Median earnings for Centre County workers were $25,209 for the females and $33,745 for men.

More information from this study will be released toward the end of the month, Copella said.

"Once the second set of data comes out, we will see that more women are working and are working as highly-skilled professionals," she said.

Copella noted some other possible explanations for the increase in earnings.

"More women work full time now since 1990," she said. "Before, women may have chosen less specialized jobs than men, and this may account for why they had lower salaries."

The data center explained that women have historically worked more part-time jobs than males and consequently have not received tenure. This trend is on the decline, the center said.

The Pennsylvania State Data Center is the commonwealth's official source of population and economic statistics and disseminates research briefs every two weeks on various topics relevant to the state.