Data Analysis: Slight Increase in Salaries & Wages

(stock image courtesy: Pixabay/Gerd Altmann)

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After several decades of stagnation, earnings for full-time U.S. workers appear to be on the upswing, including workers in the Hoosier state. The analysis, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows that between 2015 and 2018, inflation-adjusted earnings for full-time wage and salary workers increased by more than 2.4% in Indiana.

Nationally, the data shows wage and salary workers increased by more than 3.0 percent.

Despite wage gains at the national level, not all workers are seeing larger paychecks. According to data from the BLS, flight attendants had a nearly 18% increase in inflation-adjusted earnings from 2015 to 2018.

The report shows farmworkers saw about a 16% increase.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, postal service workers and financial services sales agents experienced the largest declines in real earnings.

The analysis found that after adjusting for inflation, Indiana wages increased $3,534 from 2015 to 2018.

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 2.4%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $44,945
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $41,411

Click here to view the full summary.