Raises for lower-income workers were particularly strong in early 2023. Restaurants, hotels and similar businesses hired at a brisk pace to cater to customers eager for services that were limited initially in the Covid-19 pandemic. While leisure and hospitality employment gains have slowed in recent months, workers in the industry saw their hourly pay rise faster than overall wage growth and inflation.
Wages for manufacturing and business-services workers are also outpacing inflation. Pay gains have been narrower in the tech-heavy information sector, where several large companies have cut staff.