Industrial Wage Climb Slumps

Over-the-year average wage gains for workers in industry have slumped to an 11-year low of 3% despite an upsurge in union pay increases negotiated in the last three months, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Both hourly wage and total compensation costs that include benefits rose at the same 3% rate from June, 1986, through last month, compared with respective gains of 3.7% and 3.8% from mid-1985 to mid-1986, the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

Government employees also are faring less well than they did the previous year, although they are keeping ahead of inflation, unlike workers in the private sector, according to government figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated last week that consumer prices had risen 3.7% in the past 12 months.