Worker Pay Rises Strongly As Businesses Fight To Fill Jobs

An extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits is likely allowing some of those out of work to hold out for higher-paying jobs.

Wages and salaries rose at a healthy pace in the three months ended in June as employers competed to find enough workers to fill millions of available jobs. Pay increased 1% in the second quarter for workers in the private sector, the Labor Department said Friday. That's down slightly from 1.1% in the first three months of the year but still the second-highest reading in more than a decade. In the year ending in June, wages and salaries jumped 3.5% for workers in the private sector, the largest increase in more than 14 years. That increase was driven by sharp rise in pay for restaurant and hotel workers of more than 6%.