Maryland had highest increase in average hourly earnings for the year ending February 2018

From February 2017 to February 2018, average hourly earnings rose 6.8 percent in Maryland. That was the highest percentage increase for all states. Mississippi was the only state with a percentage decrease in average hourly earnings over that period, with a decrease of 1.1 percent.

Other states with over-the-year percentage increases in average hourly earnings equal to or greater than 6.0 percent in February 2018 were Alaska (6.2 percent), and Georgia and Wisconsin (6.0 percent each). The District of Columbia experienced a 6.3-percent increase, from $39.89 in February 2017 to $42.42 in February 2018. 

States with less than a 0.5-percent increase in average hourly earnings for all employees in private industry from February 2017 to February 2018 were Connecticut, Idaho, and Virginia (0.4 percent each) and New Hampshire and South Dakota (0.3 percent each).

These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program. Data are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "State Employment and Unemployment — February 2018" (HTML) (PDF). Also see more charts and maps on state employment and unemployment.