The chart, part of a broader research series from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, has struck a chord. Hillary Clinton tweeted a version of it following her first major economic policy speech in July, and has clearly leaned on EPI research in calling for policies that boost wages.
Wall Street Journal
September 8, 2015
As a new report from the Economic Policy Institute shows, decades ago, the compensation of the typical worker closely tracked productivity growth. But since the mid-1970s, inequality has increasingly diverted growth from middle- and low-wage workers, such that productivity is up 72 percent while the compensation of the typical, or median, worker is up just 9 percent — over 40 years!
The Washington Post
September 8, 2015
We’re also earning less: Wages have been stagnant for the past 35 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute, despite a 64% rise in productivity over the same period. Hourly wages dropped at almost every level between 2013 and 2014, and those with college or advanced degrees felt it the most, the institute said.
It’s not helping us work any better either — research suggests that on-the-job stress contributes to poor performance, too. It’s even rubbing off on our kids: Another Economic Policy Institute study says that children of parents who work irregular shifts are more likely to have thinking and behavior problems than kids of parents who clock in consistently.
New York Daily News
September 8, 2015
In all the chatter about our “jobless recovery,” how often does someone explain the simple feat by which this is actually accomplished? US productivity increased twice as fast in 2009 as it had in 2008, and twice as fast again in 2010: workforce down, output up, and voilá! No wonder corporate profits are up 22 percent since 2007, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. To repeat: Up. Twenty-two. Percent.
Mother Jones
September 8, 2015
But even 2.2 percent wage inflation is considered anemic by many economists. That rate of income gain is well below the 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent rate of increase that would meet the Federal Reserve’s inflation target, according to a briefing by the Economic Policy Institute, and would enable American workers get ahead after the bite that price inflation takes out of their wages. With nominal wages having increased in the 1.8 to 2.2 percent range over the past several years of economic recovery, Americans are just barely keeping up with inflation, according to EPI.
Marketplace
September 8, 2015
The group first started by laying a foundation of economic analysis to support the idea of raising the overtime salary threshold. They started with a built-in advantage: The chief economist at the Department of Labor came from the main think tank that has been leading that research, the Economic Policy Institute, and others in high positions also have backgrounds in worker advocacy. Nevertheless, outside pressure became necessary towards the end of last year, as the process of developing the rule dragged on, and advocates worried it wouldn’t end up as strong as they wanted. “We heard that they were coming in with a threshold that was much lower,” says Ross Eisenbrey, a vice president at EPI who has played a key role in the overtime push. “And when we raised a ruckus, they rethought it, and came in with a higher number and had to redo their economic analysis.”
The Washington Post
September 4, 2015
But there is one anomalous data point in the overall job-market recovery: wages. Average hourly wages have been increasing very slowly since 2010 — in a narrow range between 1.8 percent and 2.2 percent on an annual basis. After adjusting for inflation, real wages for most workers have barely kept pace with prices. “Wage growth over the entire recovery has been unbelievably anemic,” says Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute, in a teleconference where EPI released a new analysis of wages and productivity in the recovery.
Marketplace
September 4, 2015
Lawrence Mishel, director of the Economic Policy Institute, adds that this echoes a longer term relationship between wages and productivity. “These two used to go together in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s,” says Mishel. “They have diverged such that productivity grew 72 percent since 1973 but the pay of a typical worker grew only 9 percent.” He adds that the current real minimum wage is 25 percent lower than it was in 1968.
Marketplace
September 4, 2015
Groups from the left and right came to Jackson Hole during the Fed’s annual meeting to try to make their economic-policy perspectives heard.
Wall Street Journal
September 4, 2015
15% vs. 138% Average pay increase in real wages since 1979 for the bottom 90% vs. top 1% of earners in America, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Time Magazine
September 4, 2015