The PayScale Index (US): Trends in Compensation

2012: After record-setting growth at the end of 2011, wages for workers in manufacturing and production reversed course and suffered a minor slump in Q1 2012. One bright spot is that, historically, these slight slipups have been followed by large jumps ahead, so Q2 2012 might bring a large positive change for these workers.

2007-2011: In 2007, manufacturing and production jobs saw wages rise about 3.5 percent over 2006, in line with the national average growth. Earnings in 2008 also followed the trend line for all jobs, ending 2008 at an all-time high. In 2009, wages dropped sharply before recovering towards the end of the year, once again, in line with national trends.

The worst came in 2010. Wages dropped sharply to start the year, and only partially recovered. Starting with and staying in a slump through most of 2011, manufacturing and production job wages finally recovered somewhat by the end of the year, growing more than 1 percent in Q4.

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Manufacturing and production (SOC Codes 11-3050.00 Industrial Production Managers; 51-0000.00 Production Occupations) jobs handle the production of products. These products can be everything from aircraft to jewelry and nuclear power to packaged chicken breasts. These jobs make up the backbone of America's manufacturing industry. Unlike the engineers, workers in these positions get their hands dirty making the products we buy.

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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