Figure 4

Cumulative change in real hourly wages of all workers, by wage group, 1979–2013

Very high wage Middle wage Low wage
1979 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1980 -1.9% -1.0% -5.5%
1981 -1.7% -3.6% -4.0%
1982 0.2% -2.2% -7.7%
1983 3.4% -2.7% -10.5%
1984 4.2% -2.2% -12.7%
1985 6.0% -1.3% -14.1%
1986 7.6% 0.5% -14.3%
1987 7.4% 0.6% -14.5%
1988 10.1% 0.0% -14.5%
1989 7.5% -0.6% -14.6%
1990 9.6% -0.6% -13.1%
1991 10.3% 0.0% -11.5%
1992 8.5% 0.8% -11.7%
1993 7.6% 0.1% -12.0%
1994 13.1% -1.6% -12.9%
1995 13.2% -2.4% -13.1%
1996 13.8% -2.8% -13.5%
1997 15.2% -0.5% -10.6%
1998 18.0% 2.3% -5.7%
1999 21.5% 5.4% -4.3%
2000 25.2% 5.1% -3.4%
2001 27.7% 7.4% -0.4%
2002 32.0% 8.3% 0.7%
2003 30.3% 9.6% 0.3%
2004 31.6% 9.6% -1.1%
2005 32.5% 8.3% -2.8%
2006 33.2% 8.7% -2.2%
2007 36.1% 7.8% -1.0%
2008 37.6% 8.3% -1.9%
2009 39.0% 10.1% -1.1%
2010 38.7% 8.6% -1.9%
2011 37.1% 5.7% -4.3%
2012 39.0% 5.0% -5.9%
2013 40.6% 6.1%  -5.3% 
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Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata

Reproduced from Figure F in Why America’s Workers Need Faster Wage Growth—And What We Can Do About It

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata from the CPS survey con­ducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics [machine-readable microdata file]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau

Reproduced from Figure F in Why America’s Workers Need Faster Wage Growth—And What We Can Do About It, by Elise Gould, Economic Policy Institute, 2014

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