Farms hiring more workers at higher pay

Some interesting info about hired farm workers:

1. Hiring of farm workers in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) is up 17% over a year ago, significantly outpacing the US hiring increase of 6%.
2. The number of pacific NW farm workers who were employed more than 150 days increased by more than 20 percent, while those employed for shorter durations declined about 7%.
3. Pacific NW field worker hourly pay went up $1.08 per hour (11%) over a year earlier, from $9.85 to $10.93 per hour. National hourly pay for field workers rose only 4%.

The agriculture industries in Oregon and Washington were still hiring at peak harvest season in July, employment periods appeared longer, pay was up, and hours worked remained steady.

This information comes from NASS (the National Agriculture Statistics Service), which is a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture.