Oil Workers Win Big As U.S. Wages Climb

By Les Christie


NEW YORK -- Big pay hikes in the energy industry have helped fuel the biggest jump in U.S. wages in more than five years, according to an industry report released Wednesday.

PayScale, which analyzes data from more than 10 million U.S. workers, reported that workers in the mining, oil and gas exploration industry have seen their pay increase by an average of 4.9 percent over the past 12 months and that has helped to push the average U.S. worker's paycheck 3 percent higher over the same period.