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Economists See Strong Wage Growth on the Horizon
May 10, 2019
With a tightening labor market, many economists expect to see fast wage growth in the coming year. In a new survey from the Wall Street Journal, nearly two-thirds of economists said they expect wages to grow at a faster rate in the next 12 months. Just 23 percent expect wage growth to continue to expand at its current rate, and 7 percent anticipate a slowdown in growth.
After lagging for a decade after the financial crisis, wage growth began to pick up last year. Every month since last August has seen annual increases above 3 percent. Much of that growth can be attributed to a tight labor market. Unemployment is at 3.6 percent, its lowest level since 1969. The economists surveyed expect the unemployment rate to hold steady for the rest of the year, and then increase slightly in the first few months of 2020.
