The US labor market posted steady growth in wages in the second quarter, according to the ADP Workforce Vitality Report released today. The report tracks a set of workers to determine wage growth among those who are consistently employed. This set of workers falls into two categories: job holders and job switchers. Job holders are those who stay in the same job, and job switchers are those who change jobs.

Wage growth for job holders, overall, edged up to 4.4% year over year in the second quarter from 4.3% in the first quarter. However, job switchers’ wage growth fell to 3.4% in the second quarter from 3.6% in the first quarter. On average, job holders’ hourly wage levels are $10 more than that of job switchers.

“In the second quarter, job holders experienced a slight acceleration in wage growth on a yearly basis across most industries,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “This could be a result of increased efforts by employers to retain their employees as the labor market continues to tighten and skilled talent becomes scarce.”

Workers ages 24 and younger posted the most robust wage growth among job holders, up 8.8%.

Considering wages across industries, the service sector proved to be more attractive for job switchers than the goods sector. Across all service industries, job switchers’ wage growth exceeded that of job holders. The information industry led the way in wage growth in the second quarter, with job holders’ wages increasing by 5.2%. 

Looking at wage growth among only full-time workers, job switchers increased wages by an average of 4.9% year over year and job holders increased wages by an average of 4.4%. 

Wage growth for full-time job holders and job switchers in the second quarter of 2017:

• All: Holders 4.4%; switchers 4.9%
• Manufacturing: Holders 4.2%; switchers 3.5%
• Construction: Holders 4.9%; switchers 5.2%
• Resources and mining: Holders 4.9%; switchers -2.9%
• Finance and real estate: Holders 4.7%; switchers 4.7%
• Information: Holders 5.2%; switchers 5.8%
• Professional and business services: Holders 4.4%; switchers 5.6%
• Leisure and hospitality: Holders 5.0%; switchers 6.7%
• Education and health services: Holders 4.0%; switchers 5.8%
• Trade, transportation and utilities: Holders 4.2%; switchers 4.2%

The ADP Workforce Vitality Report was developed by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.