Thursday, February 1, 2018

About that Trump wage boom


 - by New Deal democrat

Over last weekend, I read a bunch of notes which indicated that Trump was claiming credit for a boom in wage growth.

Let's take a look:

THIS is a wage boom:



In the 1960s, real wages grew by almost 9% over 7 years, anaverage of 1.3% per year.

THIS is also a wage boom:



In the late 1990s, real wages grew by just over 9% in 7 years, again averaging 1.3% per year.

This is NOT a wage boom:



During the first year of Trump's term, real wages grew by 0.6%. This is less than half of the rate of a real wage boom.