Key Points:
- Average hourly earnings rose 2.9 percent in December for private sector employees.
- Wage growth has been at or above 2.9 percent for 17 consecutive months.
Economist Corner:
A tight labor market combined with positive business sentiment continues to put upward pressure on wages. This is good news for future consumption, a key driver of the U.S. economy. As theory would predict, the hot labor market is disproportionately benefiting low-skilled workers, with gains for production or nonsupervisory workers outpacing the overall total, and exceeding 3 percentage points on a year-ago basis for the 17th straight month.