As salary growth slows, here’s how wages are rising in Nashville
Pay is still rising, but the pace of wage growth is starting to slow nationally after a frantic year. Here’s what’s happening in Nashville.
After a year of high raises and companies using big offers to poach talent, wage growth is stagnant in Nashville.
While three Tennessee locations landed among the top 30 cities in the country with the strongest wage growth, Nashville falls at No. 254 of the markets studied. Wages in Music City grew 0.6%, from average weekly earnings of $1,103.65 in August 2021 to $1,109.86 in August 2022 — that’s an increase of $6.21.
In the same period, wages are up 4.5% (from $962 to $1,006), wages in Memphis are up 4.8% ($920 to $964) and wages in Knoxville are up 7.1% ($1,068 to $1,144).
Nationally, average weekly earnings for employees in metro areas rose 3.1% in August compared to a year ago. That’s down from a 5.7% year-over-year increase in February.
The average employee was earning about $26 more a week in August 2022 than they did a year ago, but significantly elevated inflation is outpacing those gains and putting pressure on workers and companies alike.
Companies already were struggling with how to approach pay in a climate of intense competition for talent and rising turnover, but many have started to pull back on hiring due to inflation and economic uncertainty — a trend contributing to the decline in average weekly earnings.
How pay is changing around the nation
Even though the pace of earnings growth is easing, average weekly earnings still rose compared to August 2021 in nearly 70% of the 389 metros analyzed by The Playbook, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, 37% of metros recorded wage growth of at least 5%.
There was a fair amount of geographic diversity among the leaders for earnings growth.
As with many metrics, the Sun Belt was heavily represented near the top of the ranking, but it was joined by metros from the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic and elsewhere.
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Nashville Business News – Local Nashville News | The Nashville Business Journal