"Annual pay trends

The average annual pay of U.S. workers rose by 5.9 percent in 2000, according to preliminary data. This compares with a 4.4-percent rise in 1999. This pay growth in 2000 was the highest in the 1990–2000 period. Moreover, the 2000 increase in average annual pay was the largest since 1982, when pay rose by 6.7 percent.

Massachusetts and California experienced the largest percentage increases in average annual pay from 1999 to 2000 (9.8 and 9.6 percent, respectively). Massachusetts’ strong performance reflected above-average pay growth in nearly all the major industries, especially in finance, insurance, and real estate (16.5 percent), services (11.9 percent), and manufacturing (10.7 percent). In California, the largest percentage increases in pay and occurred in manufacturing (16.2 percent), services (12.2 percent), and finance, insurance, and real estate (10.0 percent).

Among industry divisions, the largest over-the-year percentage pay increase in the private sector was registered in the finance, insurance, and real estate division (9.1 percent) in 2000. The next largest were in manufacturing and services (6.8 percent each), followed by mining (6.4 percent). The smallest pay gain in 2000 among the major private industry divisions occurred in the transportation, communications, and public utilities industry (4.4 percent). The annual pay increase for the public sector, which includes Federal, State, and local government, was 4.1 percent."