Smith: State Trending Toward Bigger Paychecks
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith says one of the highlights of 2015 is the mix of jobs the state is attracting. Victor Smith says jobs in sectors like advanced manufacturing and information technology are driving a higher wage trend in the state. Indiana has long lagged the nation in per-capita income. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is reporting a full-year total of more than 26,000 job commitments and more than $4.7 billion in private investment. Smith will be a guest this weekend on Inside INdiana Business Television.
The IEDC and Governor Mike Pence announced Thursday 650 new jobs were coming to Indiana. Smith tells Inside INdiana Business says the average wage of those jobs is nearly $40.00 per hour, which he says is almost twice the state average. The economic development commitments from companies are statewide and in high-tech fields. Smith tells Inside INdiana Business the state is targeting sectors like aerospace and other "counter-cyclical" areas like advanced manufacturing, orthopedics and aviation, which he says pay "substantially above" wages of Hoosier career staples like traditional manufacturing.
The state says in 2015, nearly 325 companies made economic development commitments in Indiana and wages proposed for the new jobs that went along with them are expected to pay around 14 percent more than last year. Last December, the IEDC said 2014 broke records with regard to planned expansions and investment, which collectively represented $4 billion.
Smith says the 2015 data suggest long-term wage growth is taking hold in Indiana.