(Bloomberg) -- If you're seeking a culprit behind sluggish U.S. wage growth amid a 16-year low in unemployment, look at three sectors in particular: manufacturing, wholesale trade, and leisure and hospitality.
The following chart shows how much each sector contributed to the annual gain in average hourly earnings, which was 2.4 percent in October, according to Labor Department figures released Friday. That's down from the cycle-high 2.9 percent recorded at the end of 2016.
Manufacturing and wholesale trade have seen a deceleration in wage growth this year despite pickups in job gains. That may indicate that employers are able to continue hiring without causing inflationary pressures and provoking a tightening response from the Federal Reserve.
On the other hand, employment growth in leisure and hospitality -- which includes restaurants -- has slowed, amid signs that the industry is overbuilt.
Retail is also worth mentioning, because overall wage growth would be significantly higher if not for the pay deceleration in that sector that occurred in 2016. Employment in retail has declined over the past 12 months.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Boesler in New York at mboesler1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Scott Lanman
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