The jobs report is projected to show another healthy wage gain. Average hourly earnings are estimated to have risen 0.4% from a month earlier and 5.5% from a year earlier. That comes on the heels of data out last week that showed private-industry wages and salaries increased 1.3% in the first quarter. Even so, inflation continues to outpace wage growth for most people.
There’s also greater breadth of pay gains. The share of individuals who have experienced no change in wages over the last year has fallen to just 11%, calculations by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta show. That’s the lowest proportion since 2007.
Still, Nick Bunker, economic research director at jobs website Indeed Inc., said while the labor market isn’t cooling, “the temperature isn’t rising like it was last year.” And that could mean a leveling off in wage growth.
Bunker expects private-sector wages, which were up 5% in the 12 months through both December and March, will hold in that vicinity in the near term, but may tick down over the course of the year as workers continue to come back.
—With assistance from Rich Miller.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.