Wisconsin’s overall wage growth has been amongst the slowest in the country compared to pre-pandemic levels, but the state’s construction sector has been a bright spot and is among the highest in the country when it comes to worker pay.
As the economy has reopened in recent months, many businesses have lamented their inability to attract workers to vacant roles. That’s prompted calls from some to end an additional $300 per week in available unemployment benefits. Wisconsin Republicans have introduced legislation to do that and also voted to reinstate the state’s work search requirement for unemployment benefits.
But others have argued that the inability of employers to fill jobs suggests a need to pay higher wages. Some have suggested that people are not yet comfortable returning to work or face barriers to returning like a lack of child care.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the labor force participation rate in Wisconsin has been climbing in recent months, from 65.5% in January to 65.9% in April. The April rate is essentially the same as it was at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, although it is down nearly a full percentage point from the spring of 2019.
The BLS data also sheds light on the status of wages in Wisconsin and around the country.
The average hourly wage for private sector workers in Wisconsin was $27.81 in April, a 5.9% increase from the same time in 2019. The increase ranks 39
th in the country over that time and the state has averaged a mid-30s rank on the measure for this year.
Comparisons to 2020 wages are complicated by the onsite of the COVID-19 pandemic. The April 2020 data was the first month to show the impact of companies shedding millions of jobs. However, the average hourly wage in Wisconsin jumped to $28.34 that month, a more than $1 per hour increase that came from lower wage workers losing their jobs.
Month-to-month comparison are also complicated by the data, which are not seasonally adjusted. The average hourly wage hit its most recent peak in February at $27.94 per hour and has since dropped to $27.87 and $27.81 in the subsequent months.
The wage gains in Wisconsin are not spread evenly across industries. The average wage in construction, for example, is up 13% from the same time in 2019 while the average wage in manufacturing is up 2.4%.
At $34.68 per hour, Wisconsin had the 11
th highest average hourly construction wage in the country in April. The 13% increase from April 2019 was the third highest increase in the country.
In manufacturing, average hourly wage growth was even slower at 1.3% from April 2019 to April 2021, although it was faster in the first quarter, averaging 3.7%.
However, production workers in Wisconsin have been averaging more than 42 hours per week for six straight months. The state’s production workers are averaging the eighth most weekly hours during the past six months. The previous longest stretch of more than 42 hours per week was three months in the summer of 2018 and in late 2017.
The combination of more hours and slightly higher wages means the average weekly wage for production workers in Wisconsin went from around $870 in April 2019 to a little more than $914 in April 2021. The 5.1% increase in wages ranks 24
th in the country. The growth was slightly stronger in the first quarter, averaging 7.8% and ranking in the top 15.
Other strong gaining sectors in the state include leisure and hospitality, up 8.1% to $16.08 per hour on average, and professional and business services, which was also up 8.1% to $31.23
Wisconsin's wage gain in leisure and hospitality ranks 23
rd in the country for April. Average weekly hours for the sector in Wisconsin have been at 21.7 for the past three months, up from around 21.1 in the same period in 2019.
The combination of those increases puts the average weekly wage for the sector at nearly $349, an 11.1% increase from 2019 levels. The increase ranks 22
nd in the country over that period.
