Contribution of hours versus hourly wages to annual wage growth for working-age households, by income group, selected years, 1979–2013 (2013 dollars)
| Period changes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1989 | 1995 | 2000 | 2007 | 2013 | 1995–2000 | 2007–2013 | 1979–2007 | |
| Real average annual wages | |||||||||
| All | $61,845 | $68,199 | $72,705 | $81,686 | $81,567 | $80,324 | 11.6% | -1.5% | 27.7% |
| Bottom fifth | $15,114 | $15,383 | $14,856 | $17,697 | $17,094 | $15,360 | 17.5% | -10.7% | 12.3% |
| Annual hours worked | |||||||||
| All | 3,092 | 3,286 | 3,317 | 3,378 | 3,314 | 3,253 | 1.8% | -1.9% | 6.9% |
| Bottom fifth | 1,716 | 1,884 | 1,837 | 1,977 | 1,880 | 1,725 | 7.4% | -8.6% | 9.2% |
| Implicit household wages per hour worked | |||||||||
| All | $20.00 | $20.75 | $21.92 | $24.18 | $24.61 | $24.70 | 9.8% | 0.3% | 20.8% |
| Bottom fifth | $8.81 | $8.16 | $8.09 | $8.95 | $9.09 | $8.91 | 10.1% | -2.1% | 3.2% |
Contributions to annual wage growth |
|||||||||
| Hours worked | |||||||||
| All | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15.8% | 121.3% | 25.0% |
| Bottom fifth | – | – | – | – | – | – | 42.2% | 80.7% | 74.4% |
| Hourly wages | |||||||||
| All | – | – | – | – | – | – | 84.2% | -21.3% | 75.0% |
| Bottom fifth | – | – | – | – | – | – | 57.8% | 19.3% | 25.6% |
Note: Working-age households are those headed by someone under age 65. Data are for money income. Percentage changes are approximated by taking the difference of natural logs of wages and hours.
Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement microdata