The gap between productivity and a typical worker's compensation has increased dramatically since 1979: Productivity growth and hourly compensation growth, 1948–2017

Year Hourly compensation Net productivity
1948  0.00% 0.00%
1949 6.24% 0.74%
1950 10.46% 8.77%
1951 11.74% 11.07%
1952 15.02% 14.66%
1953 20.82% 18.17%
1954 23.48% 20.47%
1955 28.69% 25.67%
1956 33.89% 27.23%
1957 37.08% 30.12%
1958 38.07% 32.48%
1959 42.46% 37.48%
1960 45.37% 40.32%
1961 47.83% 44.49%
1962 52.31% 49.66%
1963 54.85% 55.26%
1964 58.32% 59.85%
1965 62.26% 64.60%
1966 64.69% 68.64%
1967 66.67% 71.12%
1968 70.48% 76.33%
1969 74.39% 77.41%
1970 76.29% 79.19%
1971 81.65% 85.19%
1972 90.84% 90.68%
1973 90.95% 95.65%
1974 86.61% 92.46%
1975 86.46% 95.98%
1976 89.34% 100.75%
1977 92.81% 103.51%
1978 95.64% 104.96%
1979  93.23% 103.56%
1980 88.31% 102.39%
1981 87.59% 107.64%
1982 87.92% 106.87%
1983 88.48% 109.81%
1984 87.02% 116.72%
1985 86.38% 119.80%
1986 87.45% 122.96%
1987 84.66% 126.36%
1988 84.00%   131.30%
1989 83.72% 130.03%
1990 82.35% 132.23%
1991 82.00% 133.99%
1992 83.19% 141.99%
1993 83.45% 141.47%
1994 83.88% 144.41%
1995 82.75% 147.50%
1996 82.86% 153.80%
1997 84.85% 159.82%
1998 89.26% 167.48%
1999 91.97% 173.81%
2000 92.94% 181.72% 
2001 95.59% 186.46%
2002 99.48% 193.07%
2003 101.56% 200.72%
2004 100.55% 208.97%
2005 99.71% 215.29%
2006 99.87% 221.08%
2007 101.44% 217.07%
2008 101.38% 213.46%
2009 109.28% 219.48%
2010 110.98% 232.25%
2011 108.45% 235.24%
2012 106.49% 241.25%
2013 108.38% 239.89%
2014 109.10% 245.04%
2015 112.44% 246.44%
2016 114.38% 243.47%
2017 114.70%  246.25% 

 

Notes: Data are for compensation (wages and benefits) of production/nonsupervisory workers in the private sector and net productivity of the total economy. “Net productivity” is the growth of output of goods and services less depreciation per hour worked.

Source: EPI analysis of unpublished Total Economy Productivity data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Labor Productivity and Costs program, wage data from the BLS Current Employment Statistics, BLS Employment Cost Trends, BLS Consumer Price Index, and Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts.

View the underlying data on epi.org.