Wage gap shows how far from full recovery we remain: Cumulative nominal hourly earnings and wage target, January 2007–October 2014

Actual average hourly earnings of all private employees  Hypothetical, assuming 4% growth* 
Jan-2007 $20.6
Feb-2007 20.68
Mar-2007 20.77
Apr-2007 20.83
May-2007 20.88
Jun-2007 21
Jul-2007 21
Aug-2007 21.04
Sep-2007 21.07
Oct-2007 21.11
Nov-2007 21.16
Dec-2007 21.21 $21.21
Jan-2008 21.24 21.27943602
Feb-2008 21.31 21.34909936
Mar-2008 21.4 21.41899075
Apr-2008 21.42 21.48911096
May-2008 21.51 21.55946071
Jun-2008 21.56 21.63004078
Jul-2008 21.63 21.7008519
Aug-2008 21.73 21.77189484
Sep-2008 21.76 21.84317036
Oct-2008 21.81 21.91467922
Nov-2008 21.92 21.98642218
Dec-2008 21.98 22.0584
Jan-2009 21.99 22.13061346
Feb-2009 22.05 22.20306333
Mar-2009 22.08 22.27575038
Apr-2009 22.11 22.34867539
May-2009 22.12 22.42183914
Jun-2009 22.15 22.49524241
Jul-2009 22.19 22.56888598
Aug-2009 22.26 22.64277064
Sep-2009 22.26 22.71689718
Oct-2009 22.32 22.79126639
Nov-2009 22.37 22.86587906
Dec-2009 22.38 22.940736
Jan-2010 22.42 23.015838
Feb-2010 22.45 23.09118586
Mar-2010 22.47 23.1667804
Apr-2010 22.5 23.24262241
May-2010 22.54 23.31871271
Jun-2010 22.54 23.3950521
Jul-2010 22.6 23.47164142
Aug-2010 22.64 23.54848146
Sep-2010 22.68 23.62557306
Oct-2010 22.74 23.70291704
Nov-2010 22.74 23.78051422
Dec-2010 22.77 23.85836544
Jan-2011 22.86 23.93647152
Feb-2011 22.86 24.0148333
Mar-2011 22.88 24.09345161
Apr-2011 22.93 24.17232731
May-2011 23 24.25146121
Jun-2011 23.02 24.33085419
Jul-2011 23.11 24.41050707
Aug-2011 23.08 24.49042072
Sep-2011 23.12 24.57059599
Oct-2011 23.22 24.65103372
Nov-2011 23.2 24.73173479
Dec-2011 23.22 24.81270006
Jan-2012 23.25 24.89393038
Feb-2012 23.3 24.97542663
Mar-2012 23.37 25.05718968
Apr-2012 23.4 25.1392204
May-2012 23.41 25.22151966
Jun-2012 23.47 25.30408836
Jul-2012 23.52 25.38692736
Aug-2012 23.51 25.47003755
Sep-2012 23.58 25.55341983
Oct-2012 23.56 25.63707507
Nov-2012 23.64 25.72100419
Dec-2012 23.71 25.80520806
Jan-2013 23.75 25.8896876
Feb-2013 23.79 25.9744437
Mar-2013 23.81 26.05947727
Apr-2013 23.86 26.14478921
May-2013 23.89 26.23038045
Jun-2013 23.98 26.31625189
Jul-2013 23.97 26.40240445
Aug-2013 24.03 26.48883905
Sep-2013 24.06 26.57555662
Oct-2013 24.09 26.66255808
Nov-2013 24.15 26.74984435
Dec-2013 24.17 26.83741638
Jan-2014 24.22 26.9252751
Feb-2014 24.29 27.01342144
Mar-2014 24.32 27.10185636
Apr-2014 24.33 27.19058078
May-2014 24.38 27.27959567
Jun-2014 24.45 27.36890197
Jul-2014 24.46 27.45850063
Aug-2014 24.54 27.54839261
Sep-2014 24.53 27.63857888
Oct-2014 24.57 27.7290604
Nov-2014 24.66 27.8198381

Note: The graph depicts the wage target consistent with the Federal Reserve Board's 2% inflation target and 2% labor productivity growth assumption.

Note: The nominal wage target of 4 percent is defined as nominal wage growth consistent with the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent overall price inflation target, 2 percent productivity growth, and a stable labor share of income. As an example, if trend productivity growth is 2 percent, this implies that nominal wage growth of 2 percent puts zero upward pressure on overall prices; while an hour of work has gotten 2 percent more expensive, the same hour produces 2 percent more output, so costs per unit of output are flat. Nominal wage growth of 4 percent with 2 percent trend productivity growth implies that labor costs would be rising 2 percent annually—and if labor costs were stable as a share of overall output, this implies prices overall would be rising at 2 percent, which is the Fed’s price growth target.

Source:  EPI analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics, public data series.

Reproduced from EPI's Nominal Wage Tracker

Source: EPI analysis of data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor) Current Employment Statistics program. Various years. Employment, Hours and Earnings—National [database].

Reproduced from EPI's Nominal Wage Tracker

View the underlying data on epi.org.