Table 1

Reconciling growth in median hourly compensation and productivity, 1973–2011

1973–79 1979–95 1995–00 2000–11 1973–11
A. Basic trends (annual growth)
Median hourly wage -0.26 -0.15 1.50 0.05 0.10
Median hourly compensation 0.56 -0.17 1.13 0.35 0.27
Average hourly compensation 0.59 0.55 2.10 0.95 0.87
Productivity 1.08 1.29 2.33 1.88 1.56
Productivity-median compensation gap 0.52 1.46 1.21 1.53 1.30
B. Explanatory factors (percentage-point contribution to gap)
Inequality of compensation 0.02 0.72 0.97 0.59 0.61
Shifts in labor’s share of income 0.03 0.23 -0.40 0.69 0.25
Divergence of consumer and output prices 0.46 0.51 0.64 0.24 0.44
Total 0.52 1.46 1.22 1.52 1.29
C. Explanatory factors (percent contribution to gap)
Inequality of compensation 4.8% 49.6% 80.0% 38.9% 46.9%
Shifts in labor’s share of income 5.5% 15.4% -32.5% 45.3% 19.0%
Divergence of consumer and output prices 89.7% 35.0% 52.5% 15.8% 34.0%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Note: Totals for panels A and B do not exactly match due to rounding

Source: Analysis of Mishel and Gee (2012) Table 1

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