Though all workers’ wages have failed to rise in tandem with productivity, black men have suffered most: Hourly median wage growth by gender, race, and ethnicity, compared with economy-wide productivity growth, 1979–2014

Year White men White women Black men  Black women  Productivity
1979 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1980 -2.1% -0.2% -2.0% -1.9% -0.8%
1981 -3.8% -1.6% -3.3% 0.0% 1.4%
1982 -3.9% -0.6% -7.1% -0.8% -0.1%
1983 -5.1% 0.5% -6.6% -1.2% 2.9%
1984 -5.5% 1.0% -5.9% -1.2% 5.6%
1985 -2.6% 1.5% -8.2% 1.4% 7.3%
1986 -2.4% 5.4% -4.5% 3.0% 9.5%
1987 -4.1% 7.8% -5.6% 3.0% 10.1%
1988 -4.5% 8.8% -5.0% 4.0% 11.4%
1989 -5.3% 9.0% -8.9% 6.0% 12.3%
1990 -7.0% 8.9% -9.9% 4.8% 13.9%
1991 -6.6% 9.4% -11.2% 5.3% 14.8%
1992 -7.2% 10.7% -11.8% 5.8% 18.9%
1993 -8.0% 12.1% -11.6% 7.0% 19.3%
1994 -9.0% 12.0% -11.6% 5.2% 20.5%
1995 -8.8% 11.7% -11.3% 4.5% 20.5%
1996 -8.5% 13.9% -12.4% 4.5% 23.4%
1997 -6.3% 14.7% -9.8% 5.6% 25.2%
1998 -3.2% 17.7% -6.9% 11.2% 27.7%
1999 -0.8% 21.2% -3.0% 11.4% 30.7%
2000 -1.1% 21.9% -3.4% 16.1% 33.8%
2001 0.7% 25.6% -0.5% 15.1% 35.9%
2002 0.9% 28.4% -0.3% 18.0% 39.7%
2003 2.6% 29.6% -0.9% 21.4% 44.2%
2004 1.8% 29.3% 1.0% 22.9% 48.1%
2005 0.0% 30.0% -4.7% 15.4% 50.7%
2006 0.0% 30.0% -1.9% 19.6% 51.6%
2007 1.3% 30.5% -3.0% 18.2% 52.7%
2008 0.0% 29.6% -3.1% 16.0% 53.0%
2009 3.6% 31.5% 0.0% 20.8% 56.1%
2010 1.8% 31.6% -1.9% 20.2% 60.7%
2011 -1.4% 30.3% -5.5% 16.9% 60.9%
2012 -2.2% 29.2% -5.9% 14.0% 61.7%
2013 -3.1% 30.6% -4.9% 15.9% 61.9%
2014 -3.1% 30.2% -7.2% 12.8% 62.7%

 

Note: Race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race).

Source: Adapted from Figure A in Valerie Wilson, Black workers’ wages have been harmed by both widening racial wage gaps and the widening productivity-pay gap, Economic Policy Institute Report, October 25, 2016

View the underlying data on epi.org.