Recent decades have seen erosion of wage response to inflation shocks: Wage growth and lagged (2-quarter) inflation in two periods, 1989–2019
| Price | Comp. per hour | |
|---|---|---|
| 1989Q1 | 4.05% | 3.52% |
| 1989Q2 | 4.20% | 2.70% |
| 1989Q3 | 4.57% | 2.36% |
| 1989Q4 | 4.82% | 3.05% |
| 1990Q1 | 4.16% | 4.74% |
| 1990Q2 | 3.93% | 6.34% |
| 1990Q3 | 4.24% | 6.79% |
| 1990Q4 | 3.79% | 6.07% |
| 1991Q1 | 4.49% | 4.68% |
| 1991Q2 | 5.04% | 4.65% |
| 1991Q3 | 4.09% | 4.53% |
| 1991Q4 | 3.71% | 5.13% |
| 1992Q1 | 3.11% | 7.24% |
| 1992Q2 | 2.50% | 6.20% |
| 1992Q3 | 2.60% | 6.13% |
| 1992Q4 | 2.72% | 5.30% |
| 1993Q1 | 2.68% | 1.87% |
| 1993Q2 | 2.65% | 1.69% |
| 1993Q3 | 2.62% | 0.58% |
| 1993Q4 | 2.63% | 0.77% |
| 1994Q1 | 2.42% | 0.93% |
| 1994Q2 | 2.30% | 1.02% |
| 1994Q3 | 2.06% | 0.95% |
| 1994Q4 | 1.94% | 1.00% |
| 1995Q1 | 2.23% | 2.19% |
| 1995Q2 | 2.12% | 2.18% |
| 1995Q3 | 2.25% | 2.76% |
| 1995Q4 | 2.28% | 2.80% |
| 1996Q1 | 1.96% | 3.30% |
| 1996Q2 | 1.93% | 3.41% |
| 1996Q3 | 2.00% | 3.64% |
| 1996Q4 | 2.09% | 3.40% |
| 1997Q1 | 2.11% | 3.46% |
| 1997Q2 | 2.35% | 3.44% |
| 1997Q3 | 2.24% | 3.69% |
| 1997Q4 | 1.81% | 4.95% |
| 1998Q1 | 1.65% | 5.52% |
| 1998Q2 | 1.28% | 5.89% |
| 1998Q3 | 0.84% | 6.52% |
| 1998Q4 | 0.77% | 5.22% |
| 1999Q1 | 0.81% | 5.31% |
| 1999Q2 | 0.76% | 4.42% |
| 1999Q3 | 0.95% | 3.66% |
| 1999Q4 | 1.35% | 5.15% |
| 2000Q1 | 1.59% | 6.97% |
| 2000Q2 | 1.94% | 6.79% |
| 2000Q3 | 2.56% | 7.94% |
| 2000Q4 | 2.47% | 6.39% |
| 2001Q1 | 2.56% | 5.07% |
| 2001Q2 | 2.52% | 5.24% |
| 2001Q3 | 2.45% | 3.36% |
| 2001Q4 | 2.44% | 3.74% |
| 2002Q1 | 1.84% | 1.91% |
| 2002Q2 | 1.31% | 2.38% |
| 2002Q3 | 0.76% | 2.76% |
| 2002Q4 | 1.04% | 2.10% |
| 2003Q1 | 1.51% | 2.26% |
| 2003Q2 | 1.94% | 3.15% |
| 2003Q3 | 2.51% | 4.14% |
| 2003Q4 | 1.86% | 5.34% |
| 2004Q1 | 2.00% | 4.50% |
| 2004Q2 | 2.03% | 4.70% |
| 2004Q3 | 2.04% | 5.02% |
| 2004Q4 | 2.62% | 4.00% |
| 2005Q1 | 2.45% | 4.91% |
| 2005Q2 | 2.82% | 3.54% |
| 2005Q3 | 2.63% | 2.99% |
| 2005Q4 | 2.58% | 3.19% |
| 2006Q1 | 3.18% | 4.53% |
| 2006Q2 | 3.12% | 3.99% |
| 2006Q3 | 3.06% | 2.95% |
| 2006Q4 | 3.31% | 3.98% |
| 2007Q1 | 2.94% | 4.30% |
| 2007Q2 | 1.96% | 4.09% |
| 2007Q3 | 2.36% | 4.33% |
| 2007Q4 | 2.33% | 3.88% |
| 2008Q1 | 2.18% | 2.56% |
| 2008Q2 | 3.39% | 2.82% |
| 2008Q3 | 3.28% | 3.36% |
| 2008Q4 | 3.41% | 3.52% |
| 2009Q1 | 3.93% | -0.19% |
| 2009Q2 | 1.24% | 2.27% |
| 2009Q3 | -0.26% | 1.96% |
| 2009Q4 | -0.82% | 1.18% |
| 2010Q1 | -1.20% | 2.93% |
| 2010Q2 | 1.18% | 1.44% |
| 2010Q3 | 2.26% | 1.35% |
| 2010Q4 | 2.02% | 1.15% |
| 2011Q1 | 1.51% | 3.97% |
| 2011Q2 | 1.38% | 1.94% |
| 2011Q3 | 1.84% | 2.14% |
| 2011Q4 | 2.68% | 0.27% |
| 2012Q1 | 2.96% | 0.78% |
| 2012Q2 | 2.64% | 2.22% |
| 2012Q3 | 2.46% | 1.38% |
| 2012Q4 | 1.71% | 5.54% |
| 2013Q1 | 1.53% | 1.60% |
| 2013Q2 | 1.77% | 1.76% |
| 2013Q3 | 1.46% | 1.57% |
| 2013Q4 | 1.29% | -0.24% |
| 2014Q1 | 1.41% | 3.21% |
| 2014Q2 | 1.26% | 1.95% |
| 2014Q3 | 1.38% | 2.77% |
| 2014Q4 | 1.82% | 3.07% |
| 2015Q1 | 1.69% | 2.30% |
| 2015Q2 | 1.15% | 3.74% |
| 2015Q3 | 0.25% | 3.86% |
| 2015Q4 | 0.24% | 2.57% |
| 2016Q1 | 0.19% | 1.41% |
| 2016Q2 | 0.21% | 0.87% |
| 2016Q3 | 0.68% | 0.64% |
| 2016Q4 | 0.83% | 1.95% |
| 2017Q1 | 0.96% | 2.97% |
| 2017Q2 | 1.54% | 3.22% |
| 2017Q3 | 2.08% | 4.07% |
| 2017Q4 | 1.70% | 4.30% |
| 2018Q1 | 1.69% | 3.98% |
| 2018Q2 | 1.85% | 3.77% |
| 2018Q3 | 1.98% | 3.48% |
| 2018Q4 | 2.28% | 2.58% |
| 2019Q1 | 2.27% | 4.17% |
| 2019Q2 | 2.01% | 3.77% |
| 2019Q3 | 1.49% | 2.86% |
| 2019Q4 | 1.56% | 4.09% |
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA).