But the rapid job growth of the past two years seems to be cooling off.
Economists polled by Refinitiv estimate that Friday's employment report from the Labor Department will show that the nation added 160,000 jobs in June, while remaining at a historically low 3.6% unemployment rate.
Zandi was discussing the June report from payroll processor ADP, an imperfect proxy for the Bureau of Labor Statistics' survey, which showed particular weakness in construction and retail jobs.
"Normally, as employment growth slows late in a cycle, we still get accelerating wage gains," Berson said.
"If job growth slows, then acceleration in wages may not be all that rapid, but they're still likely to move higher."