Workers' share of corporate income hasn't recovered: Share of corporate-sector income received by workers over recent business cycles, 1979–2026
| date | Labor share |
|---|---|
| 1979q1 | 79.1% |
| 1979q2 | 79.5% |
| 1979q3 | 80.3% |
| 1979q4 | 80.8% |
| 1980q1 | 81.3% |
| 1980q2 | 82.8% |
| 1980q3 | 82.0% |
| 1980q4 | 80.6% |
| 1981q1 | 80.4% |
| 1981q2 | 80.4% |
| 1981q3 | 79.6% |
| 1981q4 | 80.5% |
| 1982q1 | 81.5% |
| 1982q2 | 80.9% |
| 1982q3 | 81.0% |
| 1982q4 | 81.6% |
| 1983q1 | 81.0% |
| 1983q2 | 79.9% |
| 1983q3 | 79.5% |
| 1983q4 | 79.1% |
| 1984q1 | 77.8% |
| 1984q2 | 78.0% |
| 1984q3 | 78.5% |
| 1984q4 | 78.4% |
| 1985q1 | 78.5% |
| 1985q2 | 78.7% |
| 1985q3 | 78.4% |
| 1985q4 | 79.8% |
| 1986q1 | 80.1% |
| 1986q2 | 81.0% |
| 1986q3 | 81.7% |
| 1986q4 | 82.0% |
| 1987q1 | 82.0% |
| 1987q2 | 81.2% |
| 1987q3 | 80.7% |
| 1987q4 | 81.2% |
| 1988q1 | 81.2% |
| 1988q2 | 81.2% |
| 1988q3 | 81.1% |
| 1988q4 | 80.4% |
| 1989q1 | 80.9% |
| 1989q2 | 81.1% |
| 1989q3 | 81.2% |
| 1989q4 | 82.2% |
| 1990q1 | 82.1% |
| 1990q2 | 81.9% |
| 1990q3 | 82.9% |
| 1990q4 | 83.4% |
| 1991q1 | 82.4% |
| 1991q2 | 82.7% |
| 1991q3 | 83.1% |
| 1991q4 | 83.6% |
| 1992q1 | 83.2% |
| 1992q2 | 83.3% |
| 1992q3 | 83.7% |
| 1992q4 | 83.2% |
| 1993q1 | 83.6% |
| 1993q2 | 82.9% |
| 1993q3 | 82.8% |
| 1993q4 | 81.6% |
| 1994q1 | 81.6% |
| 1994q2 | 81.4% |
| 1994q3 | 80.8% |
| 1994q4 | 80.5% |
| 1995q1 | 80.8% |
| 1995q2 | 80.5% |
| 1995q3 | 79.7% |
| 1995q4 | 79.8% |
| 1996q1 | 79.3% |
| 1996q2 | 79.2% |
| 1996q3 | 79.4% |
| 1996q4 | 79.5% |
| 1997q1 | 79.1% |
| 1997q2 | 79.0% |
| 1997q3 | 78.4% |
| 1997q4 | 78.7% |
| 1998q1 | 79.8% |
| 1998q2 | 80.1% |
| 1998q3 | 80.0% |
| 1998q4 | 80.6% |
| 1999q1 | 80.4% |
| 1999q2 | 80.7% |
| 1999q3 | 81.1% |
| 1999q4 | 81.5% |
| 2000q1 | 81.8% |
| 2000q2 | 82.0% |
| 2000q3 | 82.5% |
| 2000q4 | 83.2% |
| 2001q1 | 83.2% |
| 2001q2 | 82.9% |
| 2001q3 | 83.1% |
| 2001q4 | 84.1% |
| 2002q1 | 82.3% |
| 2002q2 | 82.0% |
| 2002q3 | 81.8% |
| 2002q4 | 80.8% |
| 2003q1 | 80.3% |
| 2003q2 | 80.2% |
| 2003q3 | 79.8% |
| 2003q4 | 79.9% |
| 2004q1 | 78.7% |
| 2004q2 | 78.6% |
| 2004q3 | 78.5% |
| 2004q4 | 78.4% |
| 2005q1 | 77.1% |
| 2005q2 | 76.8% |
| 2005q3 | 76.9% |
| 2005q4 | 75.7% |
| 2006q1 | 75.3% |
| 2006q2 | 75.2% |
| 2006q3 | 74.6% |
| 2006q4 | 75.9% |
| 2007q1 | 77.2% |
| 2007q2 | 76.7% |
| 2007q3 | 78.0% |
| 2007q4 | 79.0% |
| 2008q1 | 79.5% |
| 2008q2 | 79.5% |
| 2008q3 | 79.8% |
| 2008q4 | 83.6% |
| 2009q1 | 79.8% |
| 2009q2 | 79.4% |
| 2009q3 | 78.4% |
| 2009q4 | 77.4% |
| 2010q1 | 76.3% |
| 2010q2 | 76.8% |
| 2010q3 | 74.8% |
| 2010q4 | 74.9% |
| 2011q1 | 77.1% |
| 2011q2 | 75.9% |
| 2011q3 | 76.0% |
| 2011q4 | 74.2% |
| 2012q1 | 73.9% |
| 2012q2 | 74.1% |
| 2012q3 | 74.4% |
| 2012q4 | 75.1% |
| 2013q1 | 74.7% |
| 2013q2 | 75.0% |
| 2013q3 | 75.1% |
| 2013q4 | 74.8% |
| 2014q1 | 76.0% |
| 2014q2 | 74.1% |
| 2014q3 | 73.3% |
| 2014q4 | 73.7% |
| 2015q1 | 74.2% |
| 2015q2 | 74.3% |
| 2015q3 | 74.9% |
| 2015q4 | 75.3% |
| 2016q1 | 74.9% |
| 2016q2 | 75.4% |
| 2016q3 | 75.4% |
| 2016q4 | 75.6% |
| 2017q1 | 75.9% |
| 2017q2 | 75.9% |
| 2017q3 | 76.3% |
| 2017q4 | 76.1% |
| 2018q1 | 75.8% |
| 2018q2 | 75.3% |
| 2018q3 | 75.2% |
| 2018q4 | 75.4% |
| 2019q1 | 76.0% |
| 2019q2 | 76.0% |
| 2019q3 | 75.5% |
| 2019q4 | 75.5% |
| 2020q1 | 77.8% |
| 2020q2 | 77.3% |
| 2020q3 | 72.9% |
| 2020q4 | 75.2% |
| 2021q1 | 73.4% |
| 2021q2 | 71.7% |
| 2021q3 | 72.3% |
| 2021q4 | 72.6% |
| 2022q1 | 73.2% |
| 2022q2 | 72.0% |
| 2022q3 | 71.7% |
| 2022q4 | 71.5% |
| 2023q1 | 71.2% |
| 2023q2 | 71.5% |
| 2023q3 | 71.1% |
| 2023q4 | 70.7% |
| 2024q1 | 71.5% |
| 2024q2 | 71.4% |
| 2024q3 | 71.5% |
| 2024q4 | 71.6% |
| 2025q1 | 72.2% |
| 2025q2 | 72.0% |
| 2025q3 | 71.8% |
| 2025q4 | 71.7% |
| 2026q1 | 71.1% |
| 2026q2 | 69.8% |
Notes: Shaded areas denote recessions. Federal Reserve banks’ corporate profits were netted out in the calculation of labor share.
Source: EPI analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts (Tables 1.14 and 6.16D)