If you'd like an idea of what your neighbor might earn at work, a new wage survey of employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor may help.

Workers in the six-county Pittsburgh region earned an average $17.27 an hour last December, according to data collected by the government and released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

White-collar workers, who accounted for 56 percent of the work force, earned an average of $19.85 an hour, according to Sheila Watkins, the BLS regional commissioner. Blue-collar workers, who hold 24 percent of the region's jobs, earned on average $16.09 an hour. Service employees, the remaining 20 percent of the work force, earned $11.06 on average.

Full-time workers did better than part-timers. Union members in blue-collar industries earned more than their nonunion counterparts and small companies paid less than larger ones.

A union blue-collar job paid $17.66 on average, vs. $13.60 for unrepresented employees. Full-timers averaged $18.29, nearly double the $9.73 part-timers earned. Companies with 500 or more employees paid $18.62 on average, compared with $14.68 for workers at companies with 50 to 99 employees.

The findings were based on a government survey of 316 firms employing 497,600 in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties. The study also detailed average hourly wages for 87 occupations.

Notably absent from the figures were lawyers, judges and physicians and there was no category that seemed to take into account the highest-paid profession, chief executive officer.

Teachers, when viewed on an hourly basis, were among the best-paid of professional employees. Elementary school teachers, for example, earned an average of $36.89 an hour, while college and university teachers earned an average of $30.64. Engineers, architects and surveyors averaged $31.34.

Among white-collar workers, computer systems analysts and scientists averaged $28.35 per hour, pharmacists $34.10, registered nurses $23.37, and secretaries, $14.57, the survey concluded.

Blue-collar occupations included automotive mechanics earning $18.21 an hour, electricians earning $17.55, truck drivers $15.77, assemblers $11.17, and stock handlers and baggers, $8.03 per hour.

Financial managers earned $38.92 an hour on average, one of the highest pay rates listed in the survey. Health-industry managers averaged $25.67. Sales careers ranged from $7.71 for cashiers to $24.94 for supervisors.

In the service occupations, janitors and cleaners averaged $12.96 per hour, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants $10.21, and cooks, $9.26.