Recent decades have seen erosion of wage response to inflation shocks: Wage growth and lagged (2-quarter) inflation in two periods, 1954–1988
| Price | Comp. per hour | |
|---|---|---|
| 1949Q1 | 6.30% | 5.03% |
| 1949Q2 | 3.39% | 3.87% |
| 1949Q3 | 1.45% | 2.01% |
| 1949Q4 | -0.21% | 0.72% |
| 1950Q1 | -2.28% | 2.72% |
| 1950Q2 | -2.04% | 4.73% |
| 1950Q3 | -1.42% | 6.58% |
| 1950Q4 | -0.34% | 9.59% |
| 1951Q1 | 2.34% | 9.39% |
| 1951Q2 | 4.24% | 9.46% |
| 1951Q3 | 7.73% | 8.50% |
| 1951Q4 | 8.07% | 7.85% |
| 1952Q1 | 5.99% | 6.46% |
| 1952Q2 | 5.53% | 4.91% |
| 1952Q3 | 2.71% | 5.06% |
| 1952Q4 | 1.88% | 5.68% |
| 1953Q1 | 2.40% | 5.78% |
| 1953Q2 | 1.23% | 6.23% |
| 1953Q3 | 1.17% | 6.02% |
| 1953Q4 | 1.35% | 4.44% |
| 1954Q1 | 1.23% | 4.11% |
| 1954Q2 | 1.50% | 3.00% |
| 1954Q3 | 1.63% | 2.74% |
| 1954Q4 | 1.34% | 2.75% |
| 1955Q1 | 0.47% | 2.60% |
| 1955Q2 | -0.06% | 3.35% |
| 1955Q3 | -0.24% | 4.37% |
| 1955Q4 | -0.01% | 4.27% |
| 1956Q1 | 0.72% | 5.16% |
| 1956Q2 | 1.09% | 6.30% |
| 1956Q3 | 1.19% | 6.04% |
| 1956Q4 | 1.76% | 6.88% |
| 1957Q1 | 2.35% | 6.74% |
| 1957Q2 | 2.67% | 5.77% |
| 1957Q3 | 3.17% | 5.56% |
| 1957Q4 | 3.13% | 5.19% |
| 1958Q1 | 2.96% | 3.72% |
| 1958Q2 | 2.89% | 3.61% |
| 1958Q3 | 3.24% | 4.63% |
| 1958Q4 | 2.77% | 3.67% |
| 1959Q1 | 2.02% | 4.67% |
| 1959Q2 | 1.46% | 4.63% |
| 1959Q3 | 0.90% | 2.85% |
| 1959Q4 | 1.13% | 3.40% |
| 1960Q1 | 1.67% | 4.60% |
| 1960Q2 | 2.26% | 4.38% |
| 1960Q3 | 1.69% | 4.40% |
| 1960Q4 | 1.82% | 3.84% |
| 1961Q1 | 1.58% | 2.55% |
| 1961Q2 | 1.48% | 3.33% |
| 1961Q3 | 1.54% | 3.49% |
| 1961Q4 | 0.99% | 3.83% |
| 1962Q1 | 0.98% | 4.56% |
| 1962Q2 | 0.64% | 3.80% |
| 1962Q3 | 0.89% | 3.76% |
| 1962Q4 | 1.26% | 3.94% |
| 1963Q1 | 1.17% | 3.32% |
| 1963Q2 | 1.37% | 3.15% |
| 1963Q3 | 1.23% | 3.48% |
| 1963Q4 | 1.02% | 3.70% |
| 1964Q1 | 1.24% | 2.38% |
| 1964Q2 | 1.30% | 2.99% |
| 1964Q3 | 1.49% | 3.28% |
| 1964Q4 | 1.55% | 2.88% |
| 1965Q1 | 1.40% | 3.63% |
| 1965Q2 | 1.36% | 3.17% |
| 1965Q3 | 1.20% | 2.91% |
| 1965Q4 | 1.50% | 3.68% |
| 1966Q1 | 1.54% | 5.04% |
| 1966Q2 | 1.52% | 6.01% |
| 1966Q3 | 1.97% | 6.41% |
| 1966Q4 | 2.29% | 6.26% |
| 1967Q1 | 2.68% | 5.85% |
| 1967Q2 | 3.16% | 5.86% |
| 1967Q3 | 2.67% | 5.77% |
| 1967Q4 | 2.32% | 5.80% |
| 1968Q1 | 2.49% | 7.19% |
| 1968Q2 | 2.58% | 7.21% |
| 1968Q3 | 3.37% | 7.51% |
| 1968Q4 | 3.94% | 8.15% |
| 1969Q1 | 4.05% | 6.77% |
| 1969Q2 | 4.30% | 6.76% |
| 1969Q3 | 4.20% | 6.91% |
| 1969Q4 | 4.46% | 6.85% |
| 1970Q1 | 4.65% | 7.31% |
| 1970Q2 | 4.70% | 7.27% |
| 1970Q3 | 4.90% | 7.10% |
| 1970Q4 | 4.73% | 6.11% |
| 1971Q1 | 4.47% | 6.38% |
| 1971Q2 | 4.61% | 6.26% |
| 1971Q3 | 4.39% | 6.00% |
| 1971Q4 | 4.42% | 5.71% |
| 1972Q1 | 4.44% | 6.44% |
| 1972Q2 | 3.74% | 6.13% |
| 1972Q3 | 3.85% | 6.10% |
| 1972Q4 | 3.27% | 7.36% |
| 1973Q1 | 3.16% | 7.20% |
| 1973Q2 | 3.37% | 7.45% |
| 1973Q3 | 3.52% | 7.86% |
| 1973Q4 | 4.91% | 8.01% |
| 1974Q1 | 5.89% | 7.62% |
| 1974Q2 | 7.18% | 8.89% |
| 1974Q3 | 9.05% | 10.21% |
| 1974Q4 | 10.03% | 10.99% |
| 1975Q1 | 10.97% | 11.76% |
| 1975Q2 | 11.51% | 11.24% |
| 1975Q3 | 10.33% | 9.96% |
| 1975Q4 | 8.61% | 8.78% |
| 1976Q1 | 7.73% | 7.67% |
| 1976Q2 | 6.83% | 7.41% |
| 1976Q3 | 6.01% | 7.75% |
| 1976Q4 | 5.60% | 8.27% |
| 1977Q1 | 5.23% | 8.24% |
| 1977Q2 | 5.13% | 8.42% |
| 1977Q3 | 5.86% | 8.25% |
| 1977Q4 | 6.78% | 7.83% |
| 1978Q1 | 6.76% | 8.63% |
| 1978Q2 | 6.60% | 8.27% |
| 1978Q3 | 6.43% | 8.24% |
| 1978Q4 | 6.78% | 9.05% |
| 1979Q1 | 7.05% | 8.96% |
| 1979Q2 | 7.54% | 9.58% |
| 1979Q3 | 7.80% | 9.91% |
| 1979Q4 | 8.52% | 9.95% |
| 1980Q1 | 9.29% | 10.20% |
| 1980Q2 | 9.86% | 10.64% |
| 1980Q3 | 11.06% | 10.98% |
| 1980Q4 | 10.76% | 11.13% |
| 1981Q1 | 10.61% | 10.82% |
| 1981Q2 | 10.66% | 9.77% |
| 1981Q3 | 10.22% | 9.44% |
| 1981Q4 | 9.40% | 8.35% |
| 1982Q1 | 8.66% | 8.47% |
| 1982Q2 | 7.66% | 7.45% |
| 1982Q3 | 6.27% | 6.75% |
| 1982Q4 | 5.52% | 6.57% |
| 1983Q1 | 5.45% | 4.90% |
| 1983Q2 | 5.01% | 5.10% |
| 1983Q3 | 4.55% | 4.05% |
| 1983Q4 | 4.50% | 3.73% |
| 1984Q1 | 4.22% | 3.86% |
| 1984Q2 | 3.77% | 3.95% |
| 1984Q3 | 4.03% | 4.90% |
| 1984Q4 | 4.08% | 4.54% |
| 1985Q1 | 3.53% | 4.66% |
| 1985Q2 | 3.48% | 4.55% |
| 1985Q3 | 3.58% | 4.57% |
| 1985Q4 | 3.42% | 5.70% |
| 1986Q1 | 3.43% | 5.87% |
| 1986Q2 | 3.52% | 6.08% |
| 1986Q3 | 3.04% | 5.84% |
| 1986Q4 | 2.10% | 5.27% |
| 1987Q1 | 1.84% | 4.25% |
| 1987Q2 | 1.74% | 3.81% |
| 1987Q3 | 1.98% | 3.58% |
| 1987Q4 | 3.07% | 3.42% |
| 1988Q1 | 3.50% | 4.76% |
| 1988Q2 | 3.77% | 5.26% |
| 1988Q3 | 3.61% | 5.48% |
| 1988Q4 | 3.76% | 5.03% |
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA).