Post-recession wage growth in northeast Indiana has trailed gains made elsewhere in the state and nation, according to a new report from Northeast Indiana Works.
However, Wabash County saw more-significant wage gains than its regional peers.
The regional workforce development agency recently released its April Labor Market Report, which found that average annual earnings for workers in the region’s top-10 employing industries increased by 7.3 percent between 2010 and 2015.
Those industries include manufacturing, retail trade and administrative support.
While wages in the region increased during the post-recession era, the report notes that wage growth in the area has trailed gains documented across the state and nation, where wages increased by 7.6 percent and 9 percent, respectively, during the same period.
Average earnings, including both wages and benefits, for northeast Indiana’s top industries during the post-recession era rose from $44,872 to $48,135, the report found.
Wabash County performed better in post-recession wage growth, however, according to statistics provided by Northeast Indiana Works.
Manufacturing sector wages rose by 12.2 percent from 2010 to 2015 in Wabash County, for example, but those annual earnings still trail the state average by about $12,000, where employees can expect average earnings of $71,000 per year compared to just $59,000 locally.
Other top industries in Wabash followed a similar trajectory.
“What is interesting about Wabash County is that, with just a few exceptions, post-recession earnings increases among top-employing industry sectors have exceeded state and national increases,” Northeast Indiana Works Communications Director Rick Farrant said. “That indicates that employers in Wabash County have been working to raise earnings.”
Farrant said that Wabash County still has work to do in order to remain competitive in the global economy.
“Competitive earnings, which include wages and benefits, are important to northeast Indiana in attracting and retaining talent,” he said. “Workforce and economic development leaders in northeast Indiana have been very pro-active in addressing the wage and earnings matter by providing skills development and education opportunities and encouraging people to take advantage of those opportunities.
“But in the end, increasing wages and earnings fall on the shoulder of employers.”