E C O N O M I C R E P O R T O F T H E P R E S I D E N T

skills, and problem-solving skills, has been rising rapidly, especially amonghigh adopters of new technology. Computer skill requirements were morefrequently cited than other requirements as having increased from 1993 to1996. However, employers cited more difficulty in finding applicants withgood problem-solving skills than in finding qualified computer-skilled applicants.Although these results in part reflect the strong labor market of thisperiod, they also indicate a rising absolute demand for skills.Changes in the Education PremiumA sharp increase in the wages of college graduates relative to those withouta college degree provides indirect but striking evidence of rising demand forworkers with higher level skills. Between 1979 and 1999 the median realweekly wages of comparable male college graduates aged 25 and over whoworked full-time rose by almost 15 percent, from $833 to $957 (Chart 4-4).Despite a 6 percent increase since 1996, the earnings of full-time workingmales with only a high school diploma fell by 12 percent over the same period.In 1999 the real weekly wages of male high school graduates were $568,down from $648 in 1979. Similarly, the real weekly wages of those with lessthan a high school diploma declined by 27 percent between 1979 and 1999,from $530 a week to $387, although their real wages in 1999 were 5 percenthigher than in 1995.In 1979 the median weekly earnings of male college graduates were 29percent higher than those of similar men who possessed only a high schoolChapter 4 | 135