Reconciling the Divergence in Aggregate U.S. Wage Series

Arbeitspapier

According to data from the Labor Productivity and Costs (LPC) program, average hourly real compensation in the United States has grown consistently over time and become markedly more volatile since the mid-1980s. By contrast, data from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) imply that average hourly real earnings has mostly stagnated and become substantially less volatile. We show that differences in earnings concept and differences in worker coverage account for the majority of this divergence in growth and volatility. The results have important implications for the appropriate choice of aggregate wage series for macroeconomic analysis.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9754

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts ; Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity ; Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles: General (includes Measurement and Data) ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General
• Subject: comparison of hourly earnings data ; earnings trends ; earnings volatility

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Champagne, Julien ; Kurmann, Andre ; Stewart, Jay
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2016

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/141513
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET