NEW YORK CITY – Entry-level workers have seen a bump in their paychecks recently, as the supply for these lower-paying positions has shrunk, Bloomberg reports. Analysis by economists Lisa Berlin and Emanuella Enenajo, both with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, discovered that industries ranking in the bottom 20% by wages have experienced incomes soaring quicker than other sectors that pay more.

Part of that could be attributed to higher minimum wages in some areas of the United States, while other unaffected food-and-beverage companies, goods services and convenience stores have upped starting wages on their own. Also impacting wages has been a decreasing labor pool for entry-level jobs, which has also led to employees offering more compensation to keep workers.

Fueling higher starting wages can also be attributed to a tight labor market, with unemployment among U.S. residents age 25 and older without a high school diploma reaching its lowest numbers on record in July. “In our view, wage growth outside of low pay sectors is likely to gradually increase as the overall labor market tightens,” Berlin and Enenajo said.

The pair did have a caveat: “However, the trend will be slow, and will likely remain below that of low pay sectors, as the labor force of workers with higher educational attainment (who would presumably be competing for higher-paid work) has been expanding, pointing to a tempering force on wages.”