According to job site Glassdoor, the annual median base pay in the United States grew 2.0 percent year over year in August 2017 to $51,556. The Glassdoor Local Pay Reports show pay growth ticked up slightly from a revised 1.7 percent growth last month, ending a six-month stretch of deceleration. Pay growth peaked in January 2017 at a revised 3.4 percent.

The Glassdoor Local Pay Reports provide a unique monthly view into the country's wage picture with salary estimates for nearly 85 job titles and year-over-year pay growth trends in the United States. The reports include details on 10 major metros: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

"After six consecutive months of falling pay growth, workers got some positive news in August with a slight uptick in average wage growth to 2.0 percent. We will be watching eagerly to see if this starts a trend in the opposite direction. We are also closely watching retail, and while the holiday season is still months away, retailers are already making preparations to fill short-term positions in time for the holiday buying rush. Jobs typically associated with this seasonal swing in hiring, including cashiers and warehouse jobs, are seeing above-average pay growth," said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of Glassdoor.

Wage Growth Up for Retail Positions as Seasonal Hire Preparations Begin
Wage growth continues for jobs in retail, as well as positions that directly support retailers. There are more than 614,000 open jobs in the retail industry on Glassdoor. Cashiers (up 3.7 percent to $27,701) and store managers (up 3.2 percent to $48,422) who handle the front end, and truck drivers (up 5.7 percent to $52,079) who haul consumer goods on the back end saw above-average pay growth in August. Pay growth was also up for warehouse associates (up 2.0 percent to $40,784) who pull orders, handle packages, and sort goods to ship for online retailers.

Behind the Rapid Rise in Truck Driver Pay Growth
Truck drivers (up 5.7 percent to $52,079) have consistently been among the jobs with the fastest rise in pay growth in recent months, and in August they top the list.

"We continue to see pay growth rise for truck drivers, in part because of increased demand for the rapid transport of consumer retail goods that have been purchased online. While there is some concern that in the future self-driving trucks may negatively impact truck driver jobs, it's not happening today, and there is still a high demand for actual people in the driver's seat," adds Chamberlain.

Attorney Wage Growth Declines; Automation Affects Loan Officers, Operations Analysts
Among jobs experiencing the biggest declines in YOY pay growth in August, attorneys topped the list (down 3 percent to $92,241).

"There has been a huge oversupply of law school graduates in recent years compared to how many traditional positions are open, and a lot of new lawyers are not finding jobs with law firms. Instead many are heading into more general business management, roles with nonprofits, journalism, government, or public policy," said Chamberlain.

Loan officers (down 1.0 percent to $44,832) and operations analysts (down 0.1 percent to $53,147) continued to experience a decline in wage growth this month--these are jobs for which automation and software is replacing the need for human labor.

Fastest Pay Growth in Boston, San Francisco; Houston Lags Behind
Among the 10 metros tracked, wage growth was fastest in Boston (up 2.4 percent to $58,731), San Francisco (up 2.4 percent to $68,164), and Washington, D.C., (up 2.3 percent to $59,141). In Houston, wage growth was slowest, and in Chicago, and Atlanta, pay growth lagged behind the U.S. average.