Dror Poleg’s Data Dashboard

Labor share of output, nonfarm business

By Dror Poleg

This chart tracks labor compensation as a share of U.S. nonfarm-business output. It uses BLS data via FRED and describes how measured income is divided between labor and other returns; it does not directly measure household inequality or every form of worker compensation.

Latest observation: 2026-04-01·Expected cadence: Periodic
WorkInequalityEconomy
What does it show?

Labor’s share of business output has trended downward over the long run.

Methodology

BLS nonfarm-business labor share index (PRS85006173) via FRED, quarterly and seasonally adjusted, with 2017 = 100. This is an index of labor's share of sector output, not labor compensation as a percentage of GDP. Every second observation is retained for display, plus the latest.

Sources