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Nearly one quarter of U.S. private-sector businesses, employing 54 million workers, increased wages and salaries, paid wage premiums, or paid bonuses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Industry | Percent of establishments | Percent of employment in establishments | Employment in establishments |
---|---|---|---|
Total U.S. private sector |
24.2% | 45.8% | 54,016,218 |
Natural resources and mining |
14.5 | 24.1 | 431,736 |
Utilities |
12.7 | 22.3 | 121,479 |
Construction |
17.3 | 23.7 | 1,722,515 |
Manufacturing |
29.4 | 54.7 | 6,650,670 |
Wholesale trade |
19.8 | 41.0 | 2,322,598 |
Retail trade |
32.7 | 53.7 | 7,999,511 |
Transportation and warehousing |
24.6 | 53.3 | 2,997,398 |
Information |
14.3 | 24.3 | 665,579 |
Financial activities |
16.5 | 31.2 | 2,579,297 |
Professional and business services |
17.7 | 35.7 | 7,340,921 |
Educational services |
21.5 | 31.0 | 854,023 |
Health care and social assistance |
34.8 | 62.3 | 11,842,575 |
Arts, entertainment, and recreation |
17.8 | 38.2 | 662,846 |
Accommodation and food services |
45.8 | 60.5 | 6,768,091 |
Other services, except public administration |
16.7 | 28.1 | 1,056,979 |
Industries with the highest percentage of establishments that increased wages and salaries, paid wage premiums, or paid bonuses were accommodation and food services (45.8 percent); health care and social assistance (34.8 percent); retail trade (32.7 percent); manufacturing (29.4 percent) and transportation and warehousing (24.6 percent). These establishments employed more than half of the workers in these industries.
These data are from the Business Response Survey to the Coronavirus Pandemic. For more information, see U.S. Business Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic — 2021. We also have more charts on how businesses responded to the pandemic.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 24 percent of establishments increased pay or paid bonuses because of COVID-19 pandemic at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/24-percent-of-establishments-increased-pay-or-paid-bonuses-because-of-covid-19-pandemic.htm (visited December 07, 2024).