Business

Low Unemployment Numbers Help Push Wages Up

A big part of the growth in wages came in the last quarter of the last fiscal year.

Low Unemployment Numbers Help Push Wages Up
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Wages saw their biggest increase in more than a decade over the course of the last year. 

That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which announced Wednesday that wages increased 2.9 percent, not adjusted for inflation, from September 2017 to September 2018.

Wages have grown relatively little since the 1970s, and they've been one of the slowest-moving parts of the economic recovery following the Great Recession. Experts say low wage growth has also been a contributing factor to wealth inequality in the U.S.  

Nevertheless, analysts say the shrinking labor market has helped push wages up, as employers scramble to fill job openings. 

The BLS announced in early October the unemployment rate had fallen to 3.7 percent, nearing historic lows