The State of Working America is EPI’s authoritative analysis of the economic conditions of America’s workers. Visit StateofWorkingAmerica.org for up-to-date numbers on the economy, updated when new data are released.
Aug. 29: Unions, inequality, and faltering middle-class wages
Union coverage rate in the United States, 1973–2011 Source: Author's analysis of Hirsch and Macpherson (2003) and updates from the Union Membership and Coverage Database |
- “Union membership down, income inequality up,” by Tami Luhby, CNN Money’s Economy Blog, Aug. 30
- “Decline in unions weakened overall wages,” by Diane Stafford, Kansas City Star, Aug. 29
July 24: U.S. poverty rates higher, safety net weaker than in peer countries
Child poverty rate in selected developed countries, 2009Note: The child poverty rate is the share of children living in households with income below half of household-size-adjusted median income. Source: Adamson (2012, Figure 1b) |
- “U.S. poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s,” by Hope Yen, The Associated Press via Salon.com, July 22
- “This Week in Poverty: TANF, VAWA and Playing Politics with the Lives of Low-Income People,” by Greg Kaufman, The Nation, July 27
- “Poverty in America: Why Can’t We End It?” by Peter Edelman, New York Times, July 28
May 24: Labor force participation: Cyclical versus structural changes since the start of the Great Recession
- “Study: Baby-boomer retirements don’t explain unemployment figures,” by Ian Swanson, The Hill, May 24
- “Jobless rate hits 8.2%. ‘Missing workers’ make the situation look better than it is,” by Meteor Blades, Daily Kos, June 1
- “Core 25-54 Employment Rates Still Near Historic Lows,” by David Hogberg, Investor’s Business Daily, June 1
May 2: CEO pay and the top 1%: How executive compensation and financial-sector pay have fueled income inequality
CEO-to-worker compensation ratio, with options granted and options realized,1965–2011Note: "Options granted" compensation series includes salary, bonus, restricted stock grants, options granted, and long-term incentive payouts for CEOs at the top 350 firms ranked by sales. "Options exercised" compensation series includes salary, bonus, restricted stock grants, options exercised, and long-term incentive payouts for CEOs at the top 350 firms ranked by sales. Sources: Authors' analysis of data from Compustat ExecuComp database, Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics program, and Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts Tables |
- “U.S. CEO’s pay 231 times higher than that of average workers,” by Marla Dickerson, Los Angeles Times, May 2
- The Ed Show, with Ed Schulz, MSNBC, May 2
- “Former Bain honcho says economic inequality is OK,” by Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC.com, May 2
- “CEO Pay Increased 127 Times Faster Than Worker Compensation Over Last 30 Years: Study,” by Ashley Portero, International Business Times, May 5
- “CEO pay transparency would make CEO pay too transparent, companies say,” Huffington Post, June 27
April 26: The wedges between productivity and median compensation growth
Current Population Survey sample sizes have fallen in recent years: Number of individual respondents to the Current Population Survey 16 years of age or older, by month
Date
Sample Size
2004-01-01
107262
2004-02-01
107825
2004-03-01
106618
2004-04-01
106836
2004-05-01
107064
2004-06-01
106380
2004-07-01
105389
2004-08-01
106479
2004-09-01
106676
2004-10-01
107634
2004-11-01
108300
2004-12-01
107220
2005-01-01
107730
2005-02-01
106556
2005-03-01
105224
2005-04-01
106437
2005-05-01
106717
2005-06-01
106849
2005-07-01
107051
2005-08-01
106967
2005-09-01
105950
2005-10-01
107006
2005-11-01
106785
2005-12-01
105780
2006-01-01
106083
2006-02-01
105675
2006-03-01
104664
2006-04-01
105876
2006-05-01
105640
2006-06-01
105578
2006-07-01
106369
2006-08-01
107116
2006-09-01
106328
2006-10-01
106367
2006-11-01
106315
2006-12-01
105682
2007-01-01
104602
2007-02-01
104211
2007-03-01
103842
2007-04-01
105500
2007-05-01
106102
2007-06-01
105805
2007-07-01
105495
2007-08-01
105316
2007-09-01
105187
2007-10-01
104775
2007-11-01
105008
2007-12-01
104537
2008-01-01
104969
2008-02-01
105030
2008-03-01
104156
2008-04-01
105231
2008-05-01
105495
2008-06-01
105622
2008-07-01
105553
2008-08-01
105572
2008-09-01
104608
2008-10-01
104582
2008-11-01
103970
2008-12-01
102831
2009-01-01
105005
2009-02-01
105630
2009-03-01
105508
2009-04-01
106952
2009-05-01
107055
2009-06-01
106846
2009-07-01
106568
2009-08-01
106614
2009-09-01
105947
2009-10-01
105776
2009-11-01
106323
2009-12-01
105410
2010-01-01
106220
2010-02-01
106949
2010-03-01
106214
2010-04-01
107631
2010-05-01
107112
2010-06-01
106661
2010-07-01
106655
2010-08-01
106500
2010-09-01
105845
2010-10-01
106033
2010-11-01
105620
2010-12-01
105759
2011-01-01
105886
2011-02-01
105235
2011-03-01
104446
2011-04-01
105463
2011-05-01
106183
2011-06-01
105308
2011-07-01
105399
2011-08-01
105476
2011-09-01
105640
2011-10-01
106292
2011-11-01
105209
2011-12-01
105070
2012-01-01
104756
2012-02-01
104547
2012-03-01
103899
2012-04-01
104878
2012-05-01
104824
2012-06-01
105257
2012-07-01
105282
2012-08-01
105026
2012-09-01
104782
2012-10-01
104813
2012-11-01
105547
2012-12-01
105119
2013-01-01
105530
2013-02-01
104212
2013-03-01
103424
2013-04-01
104972
2013-05-01
105494
2013-06-01
104496
2013-07-01
103968
2013-08-01
104292
2013-09-01
104169
2013-10-01
104562
2013-11-01
104152
2013-12-01
104392
2014-01-01
104704
2014-02-01
104144
2014-03-01
102979
2014-04-01
103738
2014-05-01
104612
2014-06-01
104730
2014-07-01
105085
2014-08-01
105530
2014-09-01
105843
2014-10-01
107516
2014-11-01
107412
2014-12-01
105518
2015-01-01
106111
2015-02-01
104399
2015-03-01
103048
2015-04-01
104993
2015-05-01
104350
2015-06-01
102818
2015-07-01
102653
2015-08-01
103340
2015-09-01
103217
2015-10-01
103938
2015-11-01
103958
2015-12-01
103037
2016-01-01
103642
2016-02-01
102941
2016-03-01
100826
2016-04-01
102411
2016-05-01
103137
2016-06-01
102979
2016-07-01
103659
2016-08-01
105380
2016-09-01
105751
2016-10-01
105241
2016-11-01
104926
2016-12-01
103273
2017-01-01
103542
2017-02-01
103470
2017-03-01
102039
2017-04-01
102707
2017-05-01
101619
2017-06-01
101152
2017-07-01
101015
2017-08-01
102315
2017-09-01
102615
2017-10-01
102690
2017-11-01
102638
2017-12-01
101325
2018-01-01
100717
2018-02-01
99855
2018-03-01
98632
2018-04-01
100116
2018-05-01
99427
2018-06-01
98766
2018-07-01
98017
2018-08-01
98482
2018-09-01
99483
2018-10-01
99205
2018-11-01
98806
2018-12-01
97444
2019-01-01
97569
2019-02-01
96473
2019-03-01
95055
2019-04-01
96569
2019-05-01
94944
2019-06-01
95182
2019-07-01
94484
2019-08-01
96015
2019-09-01
95558
2019-10-01
95976
2019-11-01
95796
2019-12-01
95623
2020-01-01
94802
2020-02-01
95332
2020-03-01
85019
2020-04-01
82589
2020-05-01
79811
2020-06-01
76441
2020-07-01
77957
2020-08-01
81176
2020-09-01
90077
2020-10-01
92152
2020-11-01
90868
2020-12-01
87917
2021-01-01
89567
2021-02-01
88747
2021-03-01
87079
2021-04-01
89903
2021-05-01
89149
2021-06-01
86099
2021-07-01
86095
2021-08-01
86288
2021-09-01
84211
2021-10-01
85624
2021-11-01
83181
2021-12-01
82859
2022-01-01
83329
2022-02-01
83799
2022-03-01
81741
2022-04-01
84330
2022-05-01
85775
2022-06-01
83350
2022-07-01
82545
2022-08-01
83774
2022-09-01
82831
2022-10-01
82294
2022-11-01
81417
2022-12-01
80587
2023-01-01
81080
2023-02-01
79529
2023-03-01
78706
2023-04-01
81623
2023-05-01
82351
2023-06-01
81948
2023-07-01
82253
2023-08-01
83202
2023-09-01
81673
2023-10-01
83408
2023-11-01
81727
2023-12-01
81193
2024-01-01
81237
2024-02-01
81478
2024-03-01
78319
2024-04-01
81378
2024-05-01
81849
2024-06-01
81034
2024-07-01
81538
2024-08-01
82331
2024-09-01
81744
2024-10-01
81575
2024-11-01
81419
2024-12-01
81121
2025-01-01
80389
2025-02-01
79533
2025-03-01
77035
2025-04-01
78724
2025-05-01
78268
2025-06-01
77701
2025-07-01
77520
2025-08-01
80690
2025-09-01
80023
2025-11-01
74891
2025-12-01
75002
2026-01-01
74774
2026-02-01
76397
2026-03-01
73967
2026-04-01
76861
2026-05-01
77473
- “The Three Wedges That Separate Workers From Their Pay,” by Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek, April 27
- “Where The Productivity Went,” by Paul Krugman, New York Times, April 28
- “Where Did All The Productivity Gains Go?” by Matt Yglesias, Slate, May 1
- “40 Years Of Workers Left Behind,” by Brian Beutler, Talking Points Memo, May 2
March 7: Entry-level workers’ wages fell in lost decade
Entry-level wages of male and female college graduates |
- “Young Adults See Their Pay Decline,” by James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal, March 6
- “College degree not worth what it was,” by Tami Luhby, CNN Money, March 7
- “Paychecks for young adults getting slimmer,” by Eve Tahmincioglu, MSNBC.com, March 7
Other media outlets and blogs that have covered the data include BBC News, Forbes, Gawker, Huffington Post, In These Times, MarketPlace Radio, National Journal, Politico, Reuters, Village Voice, and the Washington Post.