Table 7.2

Contribution of hours versus hourly wages to annual wage growth for working-age households, selected years, 1979–2007 (2011 dollars)

1979 1989 1995 2000 2007 1995–2000 1979–2007
Real average annual wages
All $59,723 $65,858 $70,210 $78,883 $78,768 11.6% 27.7%
Bottom fifth 14,596 14,855 14,346 17,090 16,507 17.5 12.3
Annual hours worked
All 3,092 3,286 3,317 3,378 3,314 1.8% 6.9%
Bottom fifth 1,716 1,884 1,837 1,977 1,880 7.4 9.2
Real average hourly wages
All $19.32 $20.04 $21.17 $23.35 $23.77 9.8% 20.8%
Bottom fifth 8.51 7.88 7.81 8.64 8.78 10.1 3.2
Contribution to annual wage growth
Hours
All 15.8% 25.0%
Bottom fifth 42.2 74.4
Hourly wages
All 84.2% 75.0%
Bottom fifth 57.8 25.6

Note: The "bottom fifth" refers to the working-age households in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, as measured by 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

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