Baristas and 9 Other Workers Enjoying Big Wage Increases

President Donald Trump boasts about job growth, but the pace of wage increases continues to slow for U.S. workers.

The jobs data website Glassdoor reports that the median annual base pay for full-time workers inched up to $51,324 in June. That reflects a wage growth increase of 1.7 percent over the past year — which is the slowest wage growth pace Glassdoor has recorded since March 2016.

In the website’s latest local pay report, Glassdoor chief economist Andrew Chamberlain explains:

“That marks the fifth consecutive month of slowing pay growth … Median U.S. pay growth peaked at 3.1 percent year-over-year in January, but has fallen each month since — despite a strong economy edging closer to full employment.”

The local pay report is based on an analysis of millions of salaries collected by Glassdoor.

The fastest rate of wage growth last month was seen among recruiters, whose pay increased 8.4 percent over the past year.

Chamberlain notes that as the nation reaches full employment, companies are relying more on recruiters to attract talented potential employees. “This puts their skills in high demand,” he says.

The top 10 jobs for wage growth — and their median base pay — are:

1. Recruiter: $51,585 — up 8.4 percent from one year ago
2. Barista: $24,593 — up 7.7 percent
3. Restaurant cook: $29,025 — up 7.2 percent
4. Claims adjuster: $51,320 — up 6.6 percent
5. Customer service manager: $54,054 — up 6.4 percent
6. Bank teller: $28,870 — up 6.2 percent
7. Warehouse associate: $41,442 — up 4.9 percent
8. Maintenance worker: $44,018 — up 4.8 percent
9. Pharmacy technician: $30,696 — up 4.5 percent
10. Delivery driver: $38,660 — up 4.3 percent

Despite seeing fast wage growth, baristas earned the lowest base pay of any job in Glassdoor’s latest local pay report. Nevertheless, the fast wage growth of the position is part of a larger trend of fast wage growth among jobs in the food services industry that typically pay minimum wage. Such jobs include restaurant cooks, for example.

Loan officers had the lowest rate of wage growth last month. Their pay has decreased 5.3 percent. Jobs with slow-growing wages include:

1. Loan officer: $44,306 — down 5.3 percent from one year ago
2. Design engineer: $69,490 — down 3.8 percent
3. Operations analyst: $52,412 — down 2.5 percent
4. Network engineer: $68,809 — down 2.2 percent
5. Physical therapist: $73,444 — down 1.8 percent
6. Business development manager: $67,246 — down 1.8 percent
7. Pharmacist: $124,391 — down 1.6 percent
8. Tax manager: $90,732 — down 1.2 percent
9. Financial adviser: $53,522 — down 1.2 percent
10. Java developer: $71,401 — down 0.9 percent

More bad news on jobs?

Experts aren’t just down on the pace of wage growth these days. Some are down on the pace of job growth as well. The Washington Post reported Thursday:

“President Trump is touting data on the economy, telling his supporters that things are getting better for American workers. Not all professional forecasters share that enthusiasm, though, and many of them believe that this is about as good as it is going to get.”

For example, the Post goes on to explain:

• According to the average projection by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, U.S. employers will add a net of 165,000 workers to their payrolls per month in 2017. That would be the slowest pace of job growth since 2010.
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly jobs reports, employers have hired 162,000 new workers per month during the first five months of 2017. The department’s next jobs report will be released Friday.

How do you feel about the pace of wage growth in the U.S., or even about the pace of growth you’ve seen in your own pay? Sound off below or on our Facebook page.