Historic UAW pay gains provided lift to U.S. wage data in December

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

Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers in the transportation-equipment manufacturing sector rose 4% in December, the largest monthly gain 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 strike by UAW against the largest automakers earlier this year led to compensation gains not seen in decades for the union.

After a six-week strike at General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV, the UAW secured average annual raises of 5.4% a year, plus cost-of-living allowances that will lift increases to more than 6% this year.

Federal Reserve officials are paying close attention to the trajectory of wage gains, which have fueled consumer spending and helped keep inflation elevated.

The government’s employment report out Friday showed the U.S. added 216,000 jobs in December, in a fairly broad-based advance. A measure of the breadth of job gains picked up.