Historic UAW Pay Gains Boosted US Wage Data in December (1)

The end of the United Auto Workers strike last year that led to historic pay gains for union workers provided a boost to overall US wage data in the latest jobs report.

Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers in the transportation-equipment manufacturing sector rose 4% in December, the largest monthly increase since 1996, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Friday.

The advance, which took hourly pay in the industry to a record $33.93, helped lift overall wages by a firmer-than-expected 0.4% from November. The metric picked up to 4.1% from a year ago.

The six-week ...