Decomposing productivity-median hourly compensation gap : Growth of productivity, real average compensation (consumer and producer), and real median compensation, 1973--2019
| Year | Net productivity | Real Avg Comp, producer | Real Avg Comp, consumer | Real median hrly comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 1980 | -0.6% | -2.7% | -0.8% | -0.4% |
| 1981 | 1.1% | -0.9% | -0.5% | -1.1% |
| 1982 | 0.1% | -1.8% | 1.2% | -1.1% |
| 1983 | 3.1% | 1.2% | 1.5% | -0.5% |
| 1984 | 5.8% | 3.7% | 2.1% | -0.2% |
| 1985 | 7.5% | 5.3% | 3.8% | 1.5% |
| 1986 | 9.7% | 7.8% | 7.5% | 2.4% |
| 1987 | 9.9% | 7.2% | 8.0% | 3.1% |
| 1988 | 11.5% | 8.7% | 10.0% | 1.6% |
| 1989 | 12.5% | 9.4% | 9.1% | 1.8% |
| 1990 | 13.9% | 9.8% | 10.4% | 1.7% |
| 1991 | 14.6% | 10.5% | 11.6% | 1.3% |
| 1992 | 18.9% | 14.8% | 15.4% | 3.0% |
| 1993 | 19.4% | 15.3% | 14.8% | 4.7% |
| 1994 | 20.4% | 16.4% | 14.0% | 3.2% |
| 1995 | 20.9% | 16.5% | 14.0% | 0.8% |
| 1996 | 23.1% | 17.9% | 14.8% | -1.4% |
| 1997 | 25.3% | 19.8% | 16.7% | -0.1% |
| 1998 | 27.9% | 22.2% | 21.1% | 3.4% |
| 1999 | 31.4% | 24.9% | 24.0% | 5.8% |
| 2000 | 34.3% | 26.4% | 27.5% | 6.5% |
| 2001 | 36.3% | 27.8% | 29.4% | 8.6% |
| 2002 | 40.1% | 31.6% | 30.9% | 11.0% |
| 2003 | 44.8% | 35.8% | 33.6% | 11.6% |
| 2004 | 48.7% | 39.5% | 36.1% | 13.1% |
| 2005 | 51.5% | 41.6% | 36.3% | 11.5% |
| 2006 | 52.6% | 42.3% | 37.1% | 11.3% |
| 2007 | 53.7% | 43.2% | 39.0% | 11.1% |
| 2008 | 54.5% | 41.4% | 38.0% | 10.4% |
| 2009 | 58.0% | 46.8% | 40.9% | 13.5% |
| 2010 | 62.5% | 50.7% | 41.4% | 12.9% |
| 2011 | 62.5% | 49.3% | 39.8% | 9.9% |
| 2012 | 63.2% | 49.8% | 40.2% | 8.1% |
| 2013 | 63.9% | 51.0% | 40.5% | 9.2% |
| 2014 | 64.8% | 52.0% | 41.7% | 8.9% |
| 2015 | 66.2% | 54.6% | 45.3% | 10.4% |
| 2016 | 66.5% | 54.8% | 45.4% | 12.2% |
| 2017 | 68.1% | 56.0% | 46.9% | 13.0% |
| 2018 | 69.8% | 57.6% | 47.9% | 15.0% |
| 2019 | 71.9% | 59.7% | 50.1% | 15.8% |
Notes: Data are for all workers. Net productivity is the growth of output of goods and services minus depreciation, per hour worked. “Compensation” refers to total compensation, including wages and benefits.
Source: Author’s analysis of EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org; unpublished Total Economy Productivity data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Labor Productivity and Costs program; and Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts. For more detailed information, see the appendix of Bivens and Mishel, Understanding the Historic Divergence Between Productivity and a Typical Worker’s Pay (2015).
This chart appears in:
- State of Working America Wages 2019: A story of slow, uneven, and unequal wage growth over the last 40 years
- Pay productivity labor day product
- Growing inequalities, reflecting growing employer power, have generated a productivity–pay gap since 1979: Productivity has grown 3.5 times as much as pay for the typical worker
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