The gap between productivity and a typical worker's compensation has increased dramatically since 1979: Productivity growth and hourly compensation growth, 1948–2019

Year Hourly compensation Net productivity
1948 0.0% 0.0%
1949 5.8% 1.6%
1950 9.9% 9.3%
1951 10.9% 12.2%
1952 14.4% 15.5%
1953 20.2% 19.4%
1954 22.5% 21.5%
1955 27.4% 26.4%
1956 32.3% 26.6%
1957 35.0% 30.0%
1958 35.8% 32.7%
1959 39.6% 37.6%
1960 42.0% 40.1%
1961 44.2% 44.4%
1962 48.2% 49.8%
1963 50.3% 55.0%
1964 65.0% 60.0%
1965 69.2% 64.9%
1966 71.1% 70.0%
1967 73.4% 72.0%
1968 77.7% 77.1%
1969 80.9% 77.9%
1970 83.3% 80.4%
1971 87.9% 87.1%
1972 97.2% 92.2%
1973 95.4% 97.0%
1974 90.8% 93.8%
1975 90.4% 98.1%
1976 92.2% 103.6%
1977 95.4% 106.1%
1978 97.7% 108.3%
1979  95.0% 108.1%
1980 89.8% 106.8%
1981 88.6% 110.5%
1982 89.1% 108.4%
1983 90.0% 114.5%
1984 88.5% 120.2%
1985 88.0% 123.7%
1986 89.6% 128.3%
1987 87.6% 128.8%
1988 86.9% 132.0%
1989 87.4% 134.1%
1990 86.2% 137.0%
1991 86.1% 138.5%
1992 87.8% 147.5%
1993 88.2% 148.5%
1994 88.8% 150.6%
1995 88.0% 151.6%
1996 88.4% 156.3%
1997 90.7% 160.8%
1998 95.5% 166.3%
1999 98.4% 173.5%
2000 99.6% 179.5%
2001 102.5% 183.8%
2002 106.6% 191.6%
2003 108.7% 201.3%
2004 107.8% 209.4%
2005 107.0% 215.4%
2006 107.3% 217.7%
2007 109.4% 219.8%
2008 109.4% 221.5%
2009 117.8% 228.8%
2010 119.7% 238.3%
2011 116.8% 238.3%
2012 114.7% 239.6%
2013 116.9% 241.0%
2014 117.5% 243.0%
2015 121.2% 246.5%
2016 123.3% 247.3%
2017 123.6% 250.6%
2018 125.2% 254.5%
2019 128.5% 258.4%

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Source: EPI analysis of unpublished Total Economy Productivity data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Labor Productivity and Costs program, wage data from the BLS Current Employment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

Updated from Figure A in Raising America’s Pay: Why It’s Our Central Economic Policy Challenge (Bivens et al. 2014)

View the underlying data on epi.org.