State’s top economist says wages are up for Florida workers — but so is inflation

Florida historically has been a low-wage state. But, according to state economist Amy Baker, wages have consistently grown in the Sunshine State since we emerged from the pandemic over the past two years — particularly in the leisure and hospitality sector.

Florida workers have made approximately 88.5% of the U.S. annual wage on average, Baker told the members of the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. But preliminary data for 2022 says that ratio has increased to 91.1% of the U.S. average, “something that we haven’t seen since the turn of the century,” she said.

“So, Florida, which has thought of itself as a low-wage state because of the mix of jobs we have, is now seeing a lot of pressure on wages that we haven’t seen before,” added Baker, coordinator of the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic & Demographic Research.

That wage growth is part of a national trend since the pandemic, as a U.S. labor shortage continues. However, that growth may be slowing. Annual pay in the private sector in the U.S was up 5.7% over last year as of October, according to the ADP Research Institute. However, that was the slowest pace of growth since October 2021. The report showed that annual pay was up by 6.4% in Florida.