The PayScale Index (US): Trends in Compensation

2012: Q1 2012 marks the full recovery of wages in the manufacturing industry from the Great Recession, as they are now above their previous peak levels reached back in Q4 2008. In the first quarter of 2012, wages grew 0.5 percent over the previous quarter and were up almost 2 percent over the previous year.

2007-2011: Despite periods of high unemployment in manufacturing throughout the recession, The PayScale Index shows that wages in the industry have been fairly in line with the national trends over the last few years. There have been no significant departures during robust economies or lean, which could be attributed to the influence of unions.

Pay rose in manufacturing through 2007 and 2008, dropping along with earnings throughout the country during 2009, and flattened out in 2010. The steady upward trend in manufacturing wages in 2011 accelerated toward the end of the year, pushing earnings in this industry slightly ahead of national trends.

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The manufacturing industry (31-33), as defined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), includes the following: food manufacturing, clothing manufacturing, sawmills, pulp mills, petroleum refining, pharmaceutical manufacturing, plastic product manufacturing, electrical equipment manufacturing. View the full definition on Census.gov.

The PayScale Index tracks quarterly changes in total cash compensation for full-time, private industry employees in the United States. In addition to a national index, it includes separate indices for specific industries, metropolitan areas, job categories, and company sizes. The PayScale Index uses 2006 average total cash compensation as a baseline.

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