Figure A

Real wage growth over the last seven business cycles: Average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory workers

Month 1960 peak 1969 peak 1973 peak 1980 peak 1981 peak 1990 peak 2001 peak 2007 peak
-24
-23
-22
-21
-20
-19
-18 97.5%
-17 97.5%
-16 101.9% 101.9% 97.7%
-15 101.8% 102.2% 97.8%
-14 101.7% 101.8% 98.0%
-13 102.3% 101.4% 97.9%
-12 102.0% 101.6% 97.7%
-11 99.4% 101.4% 101.1% 97.7%
-10 99.9% 99.0% 102.2% 101.7% 98.0%
-9 99.4% 99.4% 101.9% 101.4% 98.1%
-8 99.6% 99.3% 101.7% 101.3% 100.8% 99.3% 98.6%
-7 99.5% 99.8% 102.1% 101.1% 100.4% 99.3% 99.7%
-6 99.7% 99.6% 101.7% 100.3% 101.2% 100.4% 99.4% 100.3%
-5 100.2% 99.5% 101.4% 100.1% 100.8% 100.2% 99.4% 100.2%
-4 100.9% 100.1% 100.7% 100.5% 100.6% 100.2% 99.3% 100.2%
-3 99.7% 99.9% 100.9% 100.1% 100.9% 100.2% 99.6% 100.4%
-2 100.1% 100.3% 100.0% 99.9% 100.5% 100.1% 99.7% 100.3%
-1 100.0% 100.3% 100.1% 100.1% 100.1% 99.9% 99.8% 100.2%
0  100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
1 99.9% 100.3% 99.5% 100.0% 100.1% 100.3% 100.2% 100.2%
2 100.7% 100.0% 99.7% 99.5% 100.2% 100.2% 100.1% 100.3%
3 101.0% 100.7% 100.4% 99.9% 100.4% 100.2% 100.1% 100.3%
4 101.3% 100.8% 100.1% 100.1% 100.3% 100.2% 100.1% 100.2%
5 102.2% 100.7% 99.9% 100.1% 100.0% 100.1% 100.0% 100.5%
6 101.5% 101.0% 99.6% 100.0% 100.3% 100.0% 100.1% 100.5%
7 101.5% 101.4% 99.8% 99.7% 100.2% 99.9% 100.4% 100.8%
8 102.0% 101.1% 100.0% 99.8% 100.2% 99.8% 100.5% 101.0%
9 102.0% 101.9% 99.7% 99.7% 99.5% 99.8% 100.4% 100.9%
10 102.3% 101.9% 99.5% 99.5% 99.8% 99.7% 100.6% 101.1%
11 102.7% 101.9% 100.0% 99.6% 100.0% 99.7% 100.9% 101.4%
12 102.9% 101.7% 99.9% 99.4% 99.9% 99.6% 100.9% 101.4%
13 102.7% 103.1% 100.0% 99.6% 99.6% 101.1% 101.4%
14 103.4% 104.5% 100.6% 99.7% 99.6% 101.0% 101.6%
15 102.9% 105.0% 100.4% 99.1% 99.7% 101.2% 101.5%
16 102.5% 105.3% 100.4% 99.2% 99.7% 101.1% 101.8%
17 103.5% 105.5% 100.9% 99.2% 99.8% 101.1% 101.7%
18 103.5% 105.5% 100.7% 98.8% 99.6% 101.4% 101.6%
19 103.7% 105.5% 100.8% 99.1% 99.6% 101.5% 101.8%
20 103.8% 105.9% 100.9% 99.1% 99.4% 101.5% 101.6%
21 103.8% 106.5% 100.8% 98.9% 99.5% 101.4% 101.3%
22 103.7% 106.7% 101.1% 99.0% 99.6% 101.3% 101.3%
23 104.0% 107.3% 101.3% 98.6% 99.5% 101.3% 101.3%
24 104.3% 107.1% 101.2% 98.6% 99.8% 101.5% 101.2%
25 104.8% 107.5% 101.7% 98.6% 99.4% 101.3% 101.2%
26 104.4% 107.8% 101.6% 98.4% 99.3% 101.3% 101.0%
27 104.7% 107.8% 101.8% 98.2% 99.3% 101.3% 100.9%
28 105.2% 107.9% 101.6% 98.1% 99.3% 101.2% 101.1%
29 105.5% 107.5% 101.5% 98.2% 99.3% 101.2% 100.9%
30 105.0% 107.7% 101.5% 98.0% 99.5% 101.2% 100.8%
31 105.3% 107.6% 102.1% 98.1% 99.5% 101.2% 100.6%
32 105.9% 107.9% 102.2% 97.9% 99.4% 101.2% 100.6%
33 105.5% 108.7% 101.9% 97.9% 99.5% 101.4% 100.7%
34 106.0% 107.3% 102.3% 98.0% 99.8% 101.4% 100.7%
35 105.5% 107.8% 102.4% 97.6% 100.0% 101.3% 100.7%
36 105.6% 108.0% 102.8% 97.5% 99.7% 101.1% 100.8%
37 105.4% 103.0% 97.8% 99.7% 101.2% 100.8%
38 106.2% 102.8% 97.1% 99.7% 101.3% 100.4%
39 106.0% 103.2% 97.3% 99.6% 101.2% 100.4%
40 106.8% 103.2% 97.5% 99.7% 101.1% 100.2%
41 106.8% 103.1% 97.5% 99.6% 101.2% 100.5%
42 106.8% 103.0% 97.3% 99.8% 101.3% 100.6%
43 107.5% 103.5% 97.2% 99.9% 101.5% 100.7%
44 107.0% 103.4% 97.1% 100.0% 101.6% 100.6%
45 107.4% 103.4% 97.1% 100.0% 101.4% 100.8%
46 107.8% 103.5% 96.7% 99.8% 100.9% 101.0%
47 107.7% 103.5% 96.7% 100.1% 101.2% 101.0%
48 108.0% 103.6% 96.9% 100.0% 101.3% 101.0%
49 108.7% 102.8% 96.7% 99.8% 101.6% 101.0%
50 108.5% 103.0% 96.5% 99.8% 101.6% 101.0%
51 108.7% 102.9% 96.7% 99.9% 101.9% 101.0%
52 109.3% 102.9% 96.5% 100.1% 102.0% 101.2%
53 109.1% 102.8% 96.2% 100.1% 102.2% 101.2%
54 109.4% 103.1% 96.2% 100.3% 102.0% 101.1%
55 109.5% 102.5% 95.9% 100.2% 102.2% 101.2%
56 110.3% 102.5% 95.8% 100.3% 102.3% 101.6%
57 110.0% 102.6% 96.1% 100.4% 102.3% 101.4%
58 110.4% 101.7% 95.8% 100.7% 102.5% 101.4%
59 110.1% 95.8% 100.5% 103.0% 101.3%
60 110.7% 96.1% 100.4% 103.2% 101.3%
61 110.5% 96.0% 100.8% 103.3% 101.4%
62 110.9% 95.7% 100.7% 103.3% 101.6%
63 110.3% 95.6% 101.1% 103.3% 101.5%
64 110.4% 95.4% 101.1% 103.5% 101.5%
65 110.9% 95.4% 101.2% 103.6% 101.8%
66 111.2% 95.6% 101.3% 103.8% 101.7%
67 110.6% 95.4% 101.3% 104.1% 102.3%
68 111.2% 95.3% 101.3% 104.1% 102.3%
69 110.7% 95.2% 101.5% 104.2% 102.2%
70 110.5% 95.3% 101.8% 104.2% 102.2%
71 110.9% 95.4% 101.8% 104.1% 102.3%
72 111.2% 95.3% 102.0% 103.9% 102.2%
73 111.5% 95.3% 102.1% 104.0% 102.1%
74 111.4% 95.4% 102.3% 102.4%
75 112.1% 95.5% 102.3% 102.3%
76 111.6% 95.3% 102.5% 102.6%
77 112.1% 95.5% 103.0% 102.5%
78 112.2% 94.9% 103.0% 102.7%
79 112.2% 95.0% 103.4% 102.8%
80 112.2% 95.1% 103.6% 102.8%
81 112.4% 95.1% 103.8% 103.0%
82 112.3% 95.2% 103.9% 103.0%
83 113.2% 95.4% 104.1% 102.8%
84 113.2% 95.0% 104.4% 102.8%
85 113.6% 95.2% 104.5% 103.0%
86 113.3% 95.1% 104.7% 102.9%
87 113.7% 95.2% 104.8% 102.9%
88 113.7% 95.1% 104.8% 103.0%
89 114.2% 94.9% 105.0% 102.9%
90 113.6% 95.0% 105.3% 103.0%
91 114.3% 94.9% 105.4% 102.7%
92 114.5% 94.7% 105.5% 102.8%
93 114.5% 105.6% 103.1%
94 114.6% 105.8% 103.2%
95 114.9% 106.0% 103.3%
96 115.6% 106.2% 103.4%
97 115.4% 106.2% 103.5%
98 115.6% 106.5% 103.4%
99 115.7% 106.7% 103.6%
100 115.9% 106.8% 103.3%
101 115.7% 106.8% 103.3%
102 116.5% 107.0% 103.4%
103 116.6% 107.0% 103.1%
104 116.6% 107.0% 103.2%
105 116.7% 107.1% 103.4%
106 116.6% 107.3% 103.5%
107 107.4% 103.6%
108 107.4% 103.7%
109 107.6% 103.7%
110 107.8% 103.9%
111 107.8% 104.1%
112 107.8% 104.1%
113 108.0%
114 108.1%
115 108.4%
116 108.4%
117 108.7%
118 108.2%
119 108.6%
120 108.8%

 

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Note: The line for each recession begins at the official start of the recession, so the length of the line to the left of zero indicates the length of each recession.

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

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