Table 4

Wage, benefit, and compensation trends, manufacturing and private sectors, 1986–2017

Levels  of wages, benefits, and compensation, 2017 dollars Percent change
1986 2000 2007 2017 1986–2000 2000–07 2007–17 1986–2017
Manufacturing workers
W-2 wages $26.17 $26.96 $28.20 $30.52 3.0% 4.6% 8.2% 16.6%
Benefits $6.36 $6.63 $8.09 $9.14 4.3% 22.0% 13.0% 43.8%
Compensation $32.53 $33.59 $36.29 $39.66 3.3% 8.0% 9.3% 21.9%
Private-sector workers
W-2 wages $23.17 $23.49 $24.95 $26.53 1.4% 6.2% 6.3% 14.5%
Benefits $5.00 $4.99 $6.01 $6.58 0.0% 20.3% 9.5% 31.7%
Compensation $28.17 $28.48 $30.96 $33.11 1.1% 8.7% 7.0% 17.5%
Shares of compensation Percentage-point change
1986 2000 2007 2017 1986–2000 2000–07 2007–17 1986–2017
Manufacturing workers
W-2 wages 80.5% 80.3% 77.7% 77.0% -0.2% -2.6% -0.8% -3.5%
Benefits 19.5% 19.7% 22.3% 23.0% 0.2% 2.6% 0.8% 3.5%
Compensation markup 24.3% 24.6% 28.7% 29.9% 0.3% 4.1% 1.3% 5.7%
Private-sector workers
W-2 wages 82.3% 82.5% 80.6% 80.1% 0.2% -1.9% -0.5% -2.1%
Benefits 17.7% 17.5% 19.4% 19.9% -0.2% 1.9% 0.5% 2.1%
Compensation markup 21.6% 21.3% 24.1% 24.8% -0.3% 2.8% 0.7% 3.2%

Notes: W-2 wages includes the BLS-defined wage category plus paid leave and supplemental pay categories. Benefits include the remaining categories of pay: insurance, retirement, and payroll costs. The compensation markup is the ratio of compensation to W-2 wages.

Source: Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data, March of each year

Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website.

This chart appears in:

Previous chart: «

Next chart: »