Comparing productivity to typical worker pay reveals the extent of inequality hidden by average pay trends: Nonfarm business productivity, total economy productivity, hourly compensation, and nonsupervisory wages 1948–2022

Year NFB productivity Total economy productivity Total economy producvity, net “Effective” total economy productivity, net Average hourly compensation, NFB (index) Non-supervisory wages
1948 46.70 47.32 16.33 45.98 49.82 54.62
1949 48.18 48.15 16.51 46.94 51.90 57.40
1950 51.41 51.40 17.98 50.51 54.33 59.36
1951 52.72 52.50 19.73 51.49 54.74 59.68
1952 53.73 54.08 20.64 52.65 56.67 61.17
1953 55.05 55.99 21.59 54.61 59.38 64.22
1954 56.12 57.36 22.18 55.83 60.80 65.52
1955 58.52 59.49 23.46 59.33 63.27 68.20
1956 58.18 59.76 24.22 60.32 66.13 70.70
1957 59.67 61.58 25.67 61.78 67.72 71.73
1958 61.05 63.34 26.84 62.99 68.43 72.19
1959 63.21 65.34 28.21 65.53 70.60 74.02
1960 63.94 66.53 29.12 66.57 72.38 75.36
1961 66.04 68.71 30.38 68.76 74.04 76.40
1962 69.03 71.12 31.94 71.43 76.23 78.32
1963 71.38 73.62 33.45 73.95 77.81 79.51
1964 73.25 75.74 35.01 76.38 78.98 87.05
1965 75.59 77.98 36.79 79.04 80.32 89.13
1966 78.31 80.30 39.00 81.35 82.72 89.81
1967 79.77 81.59 40.63 82.48 84.91 91.26
1968 82.55 84.08 43.65 85.43 87.63 93.54
1969 82.69 84.63 45.97 86.15 88.77 95.17
1970 83.87 86.28 49.07 87.78 89.76 96.21
1971 87.16 89.51 53.47 91.63 91.25 98.12
1972 90.18 91.74 57.30 95.34 94.18 102.61
1973 92.95 93.92 61.91 96.94 95.43 102.24
1974 91.40 93.06 66.21 94.13 94.04 99.56
1975 93.86 95.59 73.66 96.77 95.18 98.22
1976 97.12 97.86 79.80 99.15 96.99 99.16
1977 98.80 98.92 85.65 100.10 98.55 100.28
1978 100.22 99.81 92.51 101.28 99.98 101.54
1979 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
1980 99.96 100.11 108.18 97.29 99.57 97.02
1981 101.41 102.11 120.50 99.02 99.71 96.30
1982 100.58 102.10 126.63 98.13 100.88 96.07
1983 104.71 104.87 136.09 101.14 101.07 96.12
1984 107.05 107.11 145.14 103.55 101.21 95.54
1985 108.90 108.99 152.47 105.24 102.67 95.04
1986 112.14 111.53 158.77 107.76 106.78 95.49
1987 112.75 112.01 163.25 107.18 107.17 94.65
1988 114.60 113.60 171.53 108.62 108.68 94.29
1989 115.62 114.69 180.23 109.40 107.19 93.92
1990 117.58 116.44 189.73 109.75 108.26 93.06
1991 119.50 117.83 197.92 110.46 109.42 92.52
1992 124.84 122.07 210.75 114.76 113.39 92.50
1993 124.98 122.61 216.94 115.23 111.95 92.49
1994 125.84 123.45 223.46 116.26 110.73 92.97
1995 127.20 124.20 229.00 116.33 110.80 93.35
1996 129.86 126.59 238.04 117.78 111.64 93.97
1997 132.37 128.90 246.88 119.57 113.53 95.57
1998 136.81 131.87 255.40 122.04 118.49 98.06
1999 142.16 135.82 266.53 124.75 121.44 99.52
2000 146.41 139.26 278.75 126.18 125.69 100.03
2001 150.18 142.23 289.85 127.57 127.51 100.94
2002 156.61 146.55 303.12 131.34 128.41 102.24
2003 162.40 151.42 319.99 135.56 130.24 102.64
2004 167.22 155.51 337.82 139.40 132.63 102.05
2005 170.87 158.58 354.45 141.46 132.95 101.41
2006 172.58 159.96 367.44 142.03 133.73 102.12
2007 175.29 161.87 381.01 143.21 135.65 103.21
2008 178.03 164.44 392.59 142.09 134.80 103.10
2009 184.99 169.91 406.27 147.56 136.99 106.55
2010 191.23 174.56 424.90 151.86 137.29 107.34
2011 190.86 174.38 433.40 150.11 135.63 106.15
2012 192.26 174.81 442.68 150.19 135.97 105.58
2013 193.85 175.92 454.07 151.76 135.63 106.11
2014 195.50 176.35 463.47 152.36 136.92 106.81
2015 198.26 177.46 472.03 154.90 140.92 108.85
2016 199.64 178.49 479.88 155.47 140.99 110.02
2017 202.23 180.12 493.62 156.59 142.78 110.33
2018 205.01 181.86 510.05 157.95 144.07 110.93
2019 209.67 184.40 525.91 159.95 147.02 112.79
2020 220.50 192.12 552.76 165.91 156.94 116.84
2021 224.18 194.78 589.45 168.77 156.97 116.97
2022 220.03 192.80 621.63 164.66 150.53 115.15

Note: All six lines are indices set to 100 in 1979. The data on average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers in the private sector is obtained from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES).

Source: Nonfarm business sector data from the BLS Labor Productivity and Costs (LPC) program, unpublished total economy productivity data provided by the BLS upon request, BEA NIPA tables, BLS consumer price index, and BLS CES.

View the underlying data on epi.org.