Young workers’ wages grow more quickly in response to falling unemployment than older workers’ wages : Change in median and average annual real wage growth in response to a 1-percentage-point decrease in the unemployment rate, by age group, 1980–2019
| Outcome | Ages 16–24 | Ages 25+ |
|---|---|---|
| Median | 0.86 | 0.39 |
| Average | 0.76 | 0.34 |
Notes: Each bar is the coefficient from the regression of the real annual percent change in a given percentile’s wage on the measure of labor market tightness. Regressions include state and year fixed effects. See Bivens and Zipperer, The Importance of Locking in Full Employment (2018).
Source: Authors’ analysis of annual, state-level aggregations of EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.08 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org, 1979–2019.