Productivity Outran Worker Compensation
BLS nonfarm-business indexes · inflation-adjusted · 1948 = 100. U.S. nonfarm-business productivity rose much faster than real hourly compensation after moving together for decades. It exposes the long-run gap between what each hour produces and what workers receive in inflation-adjusted compensation.
What does it show?
U.S. nonfarm-business productivity rose much faster than real hourly compensation after moving together for decades.
Methodology
Use BLS nonfarm-business output per hour and real compensation per hour via FRED. Independently rebase both quarterly indexes to 1948 = 100 and retain semiannual observations plus the latest. The divergence is descriptive and does not identify technology, bargaining power, labor composition, or another cause.