By Fred Pace, HD Media
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Maybe being fickle in the job market could pay off for West Virginia workers.
New national data show workers who switched jobs in the past year saw 10% pay raises on average. That brings the national average pay to $59,000, while West Virginia shows a median annual salary of $52,700, according to March 2024 data released last week by ADP Pay Insights, which is a global provider of worker training, skills-building and health services, as well as employment analytics and compliance expertise.
The data also show workers in West Virginia who have stayed in their job for at least 12 months saw their wages rise by 4.9%, compared to the same time last year.
That roughly matches the average year-over-year median change in annual pay across the U.S. — which was 5.1% for those workers who have stayed in the same job for the last year — which is steady from the month before.
“March was surprising not just for the pay gains, but the sectors that recorded them. The three biggest increases for job-changers were in construction, financial services, and manufacturing,” Nela Richardson, an ADP chief economist, said in a news release. “Inflation has been cooling, but our data shows pay is heating up in both goods and services.”
