Productivity and median wage growth by race, 1979–2018

Year White median Black median Net productivity per hour worked
1979 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1980 -0.3% -1.4% -0.6%
1981 -2.7% -3.9% 1.1%
1982 -1.1% -4.6% 0.1%
1983 -1.9% -4.1% 3.1%
1984 -0.7% -4.3% 5.8%
1985 -1.0% -4.5% 7.5%
1986 1.9% -2.4% 9.7%
1987 1.7% -2.2% 9.9%
1988 2.2% -0.2% 11.5%
1989 1.9% -2.9% 12.5%
1990 2.1% -2.4% 13.9%
1991 3.7% -3.4% 14.6%
1992 2.2% -2.7% 18.9%
1993 0.7% -3.4% 19.4%
1994 -0.5% -4.9% 20.4%
1995 1.1% -4.2% 20.9%
1996 2.1% -4.5% 23.1%
1997 3.9% -2.3% 25.3%
1998 7.6% 2.5% 27.9%
1999 9.2% 5.1% 31.4%
2000 10.5% 4.8% 34.3%
2001 13.8% 5.3% 36.3%
2002 14.8% 8.2% 40.1%
2003 15.6% 10.4% 44.7%
2004 16.1% 11.2% 48.6%
2005 13.3% 7.1% 51.5%
2006 13.5% 7.9% 52.6%
2007 14.1% 6.0% 53.6%
2008 14.8% 5.7% 54.4%
2009 17.0% 10.1% 58.0%
2010 16.1% 9.5% 62.5%
2011 13.8% 6.0% 62.5%
2012 14.5% 3.3% 63.2%
2013 13.8% 5.6% 63.8%
2014 13.8% 3.4% 64.8%
2015 17.0% 4.2% 66.1%
2016 18.0% 8.8% 66.4%
2017 19.5% 6.9% 68.1%
2018 20.0% 5.3% 69.6%

Note: Black and white are both non-Hispanic.

Source: 1978–2019 series by race & ethnicity, EPI analysis of monthly CPS microdata, downloaded from EPI SWA Data Library.

View the underlying data on epi.org.