The U.S. annual median base pay rose 1.1 percent year over year in December, to $51,210, a slight uptick from the revised 1 percent growth in November, according to the Glassdoor Local Pay Reports. Pay growth peaked in January 2017 at a revised 3.5 percent.

Glassdoor’s figures are based on salary estimates for nearly 85 jobs across 10 major metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

The recent stagnation in wage growth is likely due to the changing composition of the U.S. workforce, says Glassdoor’s chief s economist Andrew Chamberlain.

“As the economy improved, many sidelined workers rejoined the labor market at below-average wages to get their foot in the door with employers,” Chamberlain says. “This impacted overall U.S. pay and is likely the reason for the dip and slower recovery.”

A particular bright spot: the health care sector, which continues to post pay increases for many positions. Medical technologist saw the biggest median base pay increase overall, up 6.2 percent to $55,670, while emergency medical technician also saw big gains (up 3.8 percent to $35,259). Other health care positions, including certified nursing assistant (up 2.1 percent to $28,719); licensed practical nurse (up 2 percent to $41,676); pharmacist (up 2 percent to $128,215); and pharmacy technician (up 2 percent to $30,329), all bucked the U.S. trend with pay growth at 2 percent or above.

“While many positions are seeing stark declines in wages, health care jobs continue to record positive pay growth,” Chamberlain says. “These highly specialized roles remain in demand as our population ages, which means workers in a variety of health care fields will have the upper hand in wage discussions.”

E-commerce positions saw gains at three times the national average, including warehouse associates (up 4.1 percent to $42,361), truck drivers (up 3.4 percent to $53,043), and delivery driver (up 3.3 percent to $38,142). Brick-and-mortar positions also saw positive gains throughout December, including cashiers (up 3.6 percent to $27,692) and buyers (up 2.2 percent to $56,774).

Technology industry wages are slowing and YOY pay growth is 0.5 percent, down from 3 percent in December 2016. Some positions are seeing gains, like technical support (up 3.5 percent to $45,526) and web developer (up 2.4 percent to $64,050), but others like java developer (down 2.5 percent to $73,029) are seeing steep declines. The demand for data scientist roles is also leveling off: Median base pay for data scientists ($95,713) and data analysts ($58,855) were up 1.1 percent in December, on par with the overall U.S. average.

Automation and artificial intelligence is beginning to impact traditional roles and wages are starting to decline among positions that are being replaced by these new technologies, including loan officer (down 6.1 percent to $42,983), machine operator (down 1.9 percent to $38,460) and office manager (down 1.1 percent to $44,958).

Other jobs experiencing the biggest declines in year-over-year pay growth in December, bartender (down 6.6 percent to $30,604), civil engineer (down 1.5 percent to $66,008) and maintenance worker (down 1.4 percent to $39,451) topped the list.
Among the 10 metros tracked, wage growth was fastest in San Francisco (up 2.0 percent to $68,078), and Boston (up 1.8 percent to $58,544). Houston experienced the weakest pay growth again in December, and fell year-over-year (down 0.3 percent to $54,292).

A separate report, the Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch, closed the year with a decline in small business job growth and wages up over the previous year. The Small Business Jobs Index stands at 99.70 in December, down 0.16 percent for the month and 0.78 percent for the year. Hourly earnings in December gained 2.76 percent year-over-year, to $26.14, and averaged a growth rate of 2.85 percent for 2017, up from the 2016 average of 2.75 percent.

“While small business jobs growth slowed this year, it’s important to recall that small businesses led the hiring surge coming out of the recession and maintained high levels of growth for quite some time," says Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “It will be interesting to see the impact tax reform makes on job and wage growth in the months ahead.”

The South is the only region with an index above 100, logging in at 100.37 on the latest monthly Regional Job Index, and ranking first every month in 2017. All four regions declined from last month and last year. At the division level, only the West South Central, with the oil recovery, and New England improved the pace of small business job growth year-over-year.

At 3.51 percent, the West continues to be the strongest region for hourly earnings growth on the latest Regional Wage Report, nearly a full percentage point ahead of the second-ranked South (2.64 percent). The Midwest ranks last in both earnings and hours worked growth, while the West leads both categories.

For the latest Industry Jobs Index, Leisure and Hospitality has dropped 2.73 percent since March, from 101.79 to 99.01 -- its eighth decrease in the last nine months. While all other industries slowed or remained unchanged from last year, Manufacturing grew 1.61 percent and climbed a spot in the rankings for the third month in a row.

In the latest Industry Wage Report, growth in weekly earnings picked up in Construction during 2017, climbing from 2.94 percent last December to 3.58 percent this December. Weekly earnings slowed markedly to end the year in Manufacturing and Professional and Business Services.

Instant Insights /

Median base pay rises slightly, health care sees most gains

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You