A closer look at hourly wages
Terry J. Fitzgerald
Senior Economist
Figure 1 presents two of the most widely cited wage series indicating stagnation—median hourly wage from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and average hourly earnings (AHE) of production and nonsupervisory workers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). From 1975 to 2005, median hourly wages increased a slight 12 percent, while AHE actually fell by 4 percent.
In contrast, Figure 2 shows that labor income per hour for the national economy grew substantially over the same period, rising by 39 percent.1, 2
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Just two adjustments—using the same price index and including benefits—have greatly diminished the growth rate differences between the microeconomic and macroeconomic series. Rather than falling by 4 percent over the past 30 years, average hourly earnings have actually risen by 16 percent. Growth in the median hourly wage went from 12 percent to a more respectable 28 percent.
Still, the growth rate for each of the micro series remains noticeably below the 39 percent growth rate in national labor income per hour. This is especially true for average hourly earnings. The next two sections take up these remaining differences, starting with average hourly earnings.
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/07-09/wages.cfm
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/07-09/tables.cfm#table2
