The PayScale Index (US): Trends in Compensation

2012: Number crunchers, money managers and insurance agents still benefited from no wage changes as earning levels remained above their Q4 2008 peak in Q1 2012. In early 2012, wages posted year-over-year growth of 1.2 percent.

2007-2011: Not surprisingly, this category of jobs, that includes many professionals involved with the housing market (e.g. mortgage loan officers) saw wages grow faster than the national average during the go-go year for housing of 2007. Then, like the rest of the country, wage growth weakened in 2008 and had a significant drop in 2009 of more than 1.5 percent. Because this category is about more than housing, the rebound in corporate earnings in 2010, including in the financial sector, helped many accountants and others with accounting and finance jobs post slow wage increases by the end of 2010.

A continued slow, consistent climb in earnings throughout 2011 brought wages for these workers up to match their previous, Q4 2008 peak levels.

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The accounting and finance (SOC Codes 11-3030.00 Financial Managers; 13-2000.00 Financial Specialists) jobs category covers those workers who know money. Professionals in this group include tax auditors, loan officers, accountants and underwriters. These jobs are at the core of industries related to money, like banking, financial services, and insurance. However, accounting and finance workers can be found in all industries, making sure every company knows where the money is coming from or going.

The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) system is used by Federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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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