Top Five Cities for Salary Growth: A Glimmer of Hope

It has been a bumpy ride for wages in major cities over the last few years. The swing from speedy growth to heavy losses was dramatic once the recession hit. So, what exactly happened with wages before, during and after the recession and where are we now?

Online salary database PayScale.com has analyzed the huge body of salary data on private-industry, full-time employees that it has collected since 2006 and developed a new measure of compensation trends called The PayScale Index. PayScale reveals just how bad the recession was for private workers' earnings and why we now may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as some positive signs emerge. Maybe.