US wage growth returned to 2019 levels, according to data from jobs website Indeed. It found national posted wage growth slowed to year over year growth of 3.1% in March, a rate about equal to the average for 2019.
Wage growth is down from 3.3% year over year in February and its recent peak of 9.3% in January 2022.
However, growth is not the same for all sectors with some showing faster growth.
Indeed reported the legal sector showed the fastest growth in the legal sector with three-month average growth of 5.7% in the three months ending March 2024 compared to the three months ended September 2023.
Legal was followed by dental and childcare at 4.8% each.
“But while year-over-year wage growth in these sectors is currently the strongest observed among the dozens of sectors analyzed, growth in both has been relatively sedate throughout much of the post-pandemic wage boom — especially compared to a handful of sectors that were growing incredibly fast just a few years ago but have since rapidly come back to earth,” according to Indeed.
A sector with some of the slowest wage growth was the food prep and service sector, which saw an increase of 2.4%, according to Indeed. The sector has posted some of the fastest post-pandemic in January 2022 when it peaked at 15.4%.