As organizations realize that their workforce is the competitive differentiator during the best  and worst of economic times, a solid compensation strategy based on current economic  trends becomes crucial. Organizations need precise and timely data, along with the  capabilities to accurately analyze that data, to make informed decisions about allocating  a limited compensation budget. This is important both on the macro level of developing  competitive compensation strategies and also on the micro level of determining marketbased pay for individual employees.

The Payscale Index should be included as a resource to stay informed of quarterly economic  trends. The Payscale Index tracks quarterly changes in total cash compensation for fulltime, private industry employees in 19 job categories, three company sizes and 15 industries  across 32 major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States. Payscale also  produces a quarterly index for Canada.