ECONOMIC

wage increases in many cases, construction wages being an exceptionallyimportant and well-documented instance. But whether they did, in fact, holddown the overall wage level is hard to tell.At the beginning of 1973, the Administration and a few others believedthat the year would be one of only moderate wage increases compared tothose of the recent past. This view was based on the fact that wages hadgained substantially over the cost of living in 1972 and that wages in differentindustries seemed in good balance. When consumer prices began to riserapidly early in 1973, the question arose whether this moderate expectationwould be upset, or whether the controls program would prevent such adevelopment.The wage picture is not clear because the measures of wage rates do notalways agree, and no single ideal measure exists. Wage increases in new unioncontracts were lower in 1973 than in 1972 (Table 25). When fringe benefitsare included, the 1973 contract increases were also lower than those of1972, but not by so wide a margin; fringe benefits rose faster than wages.However, the index of hourly earnings, adjusted for overtime in manufacturingand for interindustry shifts, rose a little more during 1973 thanduring 1972 (Table 21). This index reflects not only new wage decisionsbut also the effects of old decisions and their implementation. It also reflectsthe so-called wage drift as individual workers are reclassified, but itdoes not reflect the relatively more rapid rise of fringe benefits.TABLE 25.—First year wage rate changes in collective bargaining agreements covering 7,000workers or more, 1970—73Percent of workers affectedType of wage rate action iAll industriesManufacturing1970 1971 1972 1973 21970 1971 1972 1973 2All wage actions.100100100100100100100100No wage jncrease..Increase in v ages..1002100Under 1 percent1 and under 2 percent...2 and under 3 percent...3 and under 4 percent...4 and under 5 percent...5 and under 6 percent...6 and under 7 percent...7 and under 8 percent...8 and under 9 percent...9 and under 10 percent..10 percent and overNot specifiedNumber of workers (thousands).4,6753,9782,4245,0042,1848,4169653001,91391313547241022,318Mean adjustment (percent)11.911.67.35.88.110.96.65.9Median adjustment (percent)....10.012.56.65.57.510.16.25.5* Percent of estimated average hourly earnings excluding overtime.2 Preli -inary.3 Less than 0.5 percent.Note.—Detail may not add to total because of rounding.Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.102