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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