Wages Are Growing 2.3%, But Your Paycheck Probably Isn’t

Consistent job growth is supporting steadier paycheck gains, but raises are uneven and concentrated in high- and low-wage jobs.

Average hourly earnings advanced 2.3% from a year earlier in November, the Labor Department said Friday, a pace that’s roughly been maintained over the past two years. That streak of steady wage gains has coincided with the economy adding an average of 234,000 jobs per month since November 2013, a clear acceleration compared with earlier in the expansion.

But those wage improvements are not being spread evenly across industries.