Released on July 22, 2020

US workers’ wages rose to 6.0% to $30.25 per hour in the second quarter, according to the ADP Research Institute’s Workforce Vitality Report released today. On the other hand, job growth decelerated 10.2% from the first quarter.

Year-over-year wage growth across all workers spiked in the second quarter as a result of the impact from Covid-19. Wage growth ended the quarter at 6.0%, which was down from a high of 7.3% growth in May, but far higher than the 2.5% growth in the first quarter of 2020.

This reflects compositional changes in the labor force as a result of massive job losses, according to ADP. An increase in overall wages is often observed at the onset of a recession as workers being impacted by the first waves of layoffs are typically less-tenured and lower-paid.

By industry, the highest wage growth year over year was in resources and mining, where wages rose 9.6% to $39.23; leisure and hospitality followed with a 9.3% year -over-year increase to $19.73 per hour.

Wages edged down year over year by 0.9% in trade and transportation, 7% in professional services and 0.6% in construction.

Looking at all industries, wages for “job holders” — those who were employed at the same company over the last 12 months — edged down 0.8% year over year. Meanwhile, wages for “job switchers” rose 0.5%; job switchers are those who changed jobs over the last 12 months.

Wages for job entrants were almost flat, up only 0.1% year over year in the second quarter.

By region, the fastest wage growth was in the Northeast where wages rose 4.8% year over year to $34.67 per hour. Slowest growth was in the Midwest, where wages rose 0.8% to $27.93 hour.

Original author: Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) | Daily News