Annual Labor Day report indicates workers making solid gains

NAM report shows manufacturing workers gaining from year-to-year, and better than average members of the workforce.

By Staff September 7, 2007

During the past 12 months, 95 million working Americans — 82% of the workforce — received real wage gains, according to the National Association of Manufacturers ’ Annual Labor Day Report . Manufacturing workers led the way, earning 30% more than the average wage for the private sector workforce.

st year compared to the same period a year ago.“Private sector employment has grown by just 1.6 million over the past 12 months,” Huether said. “This is half a million fewer jobs than were created this time last year, and the slowest pace in nearly three years.”

“The challenge of finding qualified workers is not just a cyclical annoyance, but rather a serious long-term problem,” he said, adding that manufacturers ranked finding qualified workers second only to health care as a major concern. here .