Disconnect between productivity and typical worker compensation,* 1948–2013
| Year | Hourly compensation | Productivity |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 1949 | 6.3% | 1.5% |
| 1950 | 10.5% | 9.3% |
| 1951 | 11.8% | 12.4% |
| 1952 | 15.0% | 15.6% |
| 1953 | 20.8% | 19.5% |
| 1954 | 23.5% | 21.6% |
| 1955 | 28.7% | 26.5% |
| 1956 | 33.9% | 26.7% |
| 1957 | 37.1% | 30.1% |
| 1958 | 38.2% | 32.8% |
| 1959 | 42.6% | 37.6% |
| 1960 | 45.5% | 40.0% |
| 1961 | 48.0% | 44.4% |
| 1962 | 52.5% | 49.8% |
| 1963 | 55.0% | 55.0% |
| 1964 | 58.5% | 60.0% |
| 1965 | 62.5% | 64.9% |
| 1966 | 64.9% | 70.0% |
| 1967 | 66.9% | 72.1% |
| 1968 | 70.7% | 77.2% |
| 1969 | 74.7% | 77.9% |
| 1970 | 76.6% | 80.4% |
| 1971 | 82.0% | 87.1% |
| 1972 | 91.3% | 92.0% |
| 1973 | 91.3% | 96.7% |
| 1974 | 87.0% | 93.6% |
| 1975 | 86.9% | 97.9% |
| 1976 | 89.7% | 103.4% |
| 1977 | 93.2% | 105.8% |
| 1978 | 96.0% | 107.8% |
| 1979 | 93.4% | 108.1% |
| 1980 | 88.6% | 106.5% |
| 1981 | 87.6% | 111.0% |
| 1982 | 87.8% | 107.9% |
| 1983 | 88.3% | 114.1% |
| 1984 | 87.0% | 119.7% |
| 1985 | 86.4% | 123.4% |
| 1986 | 87.3% | 128.0% |
| 1987 | 84.6% | 129.1% |
| 1988 | 83.9% | 131.8% |
| 1989 | 83.7% | 133.7% |
| 1990 | 82.2% | 137.0% |
| 1991 | 82.1% | 138.9% |
| 1992 | 83.1% | 147.6% |
| 1993 | 83.4% | 148.4% |
| 1994 | 83.8% | 150.8% |
| 1995 | 82.7% | 150.9% |
| 1996 | 82.8% | 157.0% |
| 1997 | 84.8% | 160.6% |
| 1998 | 89.2% | 165.9% |
| 1999 | 92.0% | 172.8% |
| 2000 | 93.0% | 179.2% |
| 2001 | 95.7% | 183.5% |
| 2002 | 99.6% | 191.4% |
| 2003 | 101.8% | 200.9% |
| 2004 | 101.1% | 209.1% |
| 2005 | 100.3% | 214.5% |
| 2006 | 100.4% | 216.5% |
| 2007 | 101.9% | 218.8% |
| 2008 | 102.1% | 219.4% |
| 2009 | 110.1% | 226.0% |
| 2010 | 112.1% | 235.4% |
| 2011 | 109.6% | 236.7% |
| 2012 | 107.7% | 240.9% |
| 2013 | 109.2% | 243.1% |
Note: From 1948 to 1979, productivity rose 108.1 percent, and hourly compensation increased 93.4 percent. From 1979 to 2013, productivity rose 64.9 percent, and hourly compensation rose 8.2 percent.
* Data are for compensation of production/nonsupervisory workers in the private sector and net productivity (growth of output of goods and services less depreciation per hour worked) of the total economy. Hourly compensation is derived from inflating the average wages of production/nonsupervisory workers from the BLS Current Employment Statistics (CES) by a compensation-to-wage ratio. The compensation-to-wage ratio is calculated by dividing the average total compensation (wages and salaries plus benefits) by the average wage and salary accruals of all full- and part-time employees from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) interactive tables. The 2013 compensation-to-wage ratio used in the calculation of hourly compensation was estimated using the growth rate of the compensation-to-wage ratio from 2012 to 2013 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).
Source: Authors' analysis of data from BLS Labor Productivity and Costs program, Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics public data series and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, and Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts (Tables 2.3.4, 6.2, 6.3, 6.9, 6.10, and 6.11)
UPDATED FROM: Figure 4U in The State of Working America, 12th Edition, an Economic Policy Institute book published by Cornell University Press in 2012
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