A rising economic tide is lifting workers’ pay, especially in Dallas County.

Private sector workers in Dallas saw average wages rise by 5.1% in the 12 months ended in September, according to newly released federal data. It was the biggest increase for the period since 2016, and Dallas County’s rise surpassed the average gain for the rest of the country.

That’s a reverse of recent trend. In four of the previous five years, wage growth in Dallas County had lagged increases nationwide.

“We’ve been waiting for Dallas-Fort Worth employers to catch up with rest of the U.S.,” said Cheryl Abbot, regional economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Perhaps paying higher wages is the only way for them to get employees.”

Last year, D-FW added almost 128,000 jobs, more than any metro, including much larger New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for D-FW was 2.9% at the end of 2019, the lowest level in two decades.

The combination of strong demand for workers and an historically low unemployment rate has created what many employers have called a war for talent. That description is often used when talking about recruiting tech workers in particular.

Indeed, pay for D-FW’s information sector rose 6% for the year ended in September, more than twice the increase for the rest of the U.S.

But year-over-year wage gains were even higher for professional and business services, a broad sector that accounts for more jobs than any other in D-FW. It includes accountants, lawyers, managers, computer system designers and administrative support staff.

In Dallas County, almost 367,000 people worked in professional and business services at the end of September. Their average weekly wage rose 6.5%, over 2 percentage points more than the increase nationwide.

One contributing factor was rising demand: Jobs in professional and business services grew 3.7% here, almost three times faster than in the rest of the U.S.

A similar story played out in the leisure and hospitality industry, which includes hotels and restaurants and is the lowest-paid of the large job groups. Average weekly wages rose 7.2% in Dallas, over 2 percentage points more than nationwide. And leisure and hospitality jobs grew 3.6% here, three times faster than in the U.S.

“It’s harder to find top talent than at any time in my 20 years in the business,” said Mark Malone, a senior regional vice president for Robert Half in Dallas, a major staffing company.

In a Robert Half survey released last week, 62% of respondents from Dallas said they negotiated a higher salary with their last job offer, up from 55% a year ago. Dallas ranked No. 5 among 28 cities, Malone said, and that’s an indication of workers’ growing clout in the local labor market.

“Most people we’re working with have multiple job offers, and that’s partly why they have the confidence to negotiate” with employers, Malone said.

His firm places thousands of D-FW workers in accounting and finance, information technology and legal, administrative and creative services. They care about health benefits and other perks, he said: “But pay is generally at the top of the list.”

The BLS data released last week, which was through September, was taken from its quarterly census of employment and wages, a count reported by employers. It covers over 95% of U.S. jobs.

The release included a breakdown of results by industry for the 10 largest counties in the U.S. Dallas County had the largest wage gains among the group.

That’s been helped by the steady increase in companies moving into the region, along with existing firms expanding here. In recent years, Toyota has moved its North American headquarters to Plano, McKesson relocated to Irving and Jacobs Engineering Group landed in downtown Dallas. Late last year, Charles Schwab said it would move its headquarters to Westlake.

JPMorgan Chase, State Farm and Capital One are among the many finance and insurance companies that have expanded here.

Such growth increases the competition for new employees, which puts pressure on wages. And when employers relocate workers from higher-paying regions, that can drive up average wages, too.

Yet local pay gains have generally trailed the nation’s for several years. According to the employment cost index, a different data set from a BLS survey, wages in the U.S. have been rising around 3% for the last two years. D-FW didn’t reach that level until 2019.

In the latest quarter, ended in December, the employment cost index rose 3.4% in D-FW compared with 3% for the U.S.

“D-FW has finally made that jump,” Abbot said.

A different survey shows more Texas companies focusing on raising wages and benefits, instead of boosting recruiting. In business outlook surveys by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, executives were asked what they’re doing to recruit and retain employees.

This month, over 66% said they were increasing wages or benefits. That’s up from 48% three years ago.

In 2017, the most popular response to the talent question was to intensify recruiting, including advertising and using staffing companies. Fewer than half are doing that now, according to this month’s survey.

“The lack of labor in this country is at a critical point,” wrote an unnamed executive from a food manufacturer. “We must solve this shortage or we will stop growing. Period.”