Pay vs Productivity
92
· Jan 2026
econ
scout
1948-49 Recession · Nov 1948 – Oct 1949
1953-54 Recession · Jul 1953 – May 1954
1957-58 Recession · Aug 1957 – Apr 1958
1960-61 Recession · Apr 1960 – Feb 1961
1969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 1970
1973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 1975
1980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 1980
1981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 1982
1990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 1991
2001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001
Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009
COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 2020
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
92
Pay vs Productivity — one value per year; US recessions are shaded on the chart.
Year
Pay vs Productivity
1947
151
1948
154
1949
152
1950
149
1951
147
1952
151
1953
154
1954
153
1955
156
1956
162
1957
161
1958
157
1959
159
1960
163
1961
157
1962
156
1963
154
1964
154
1965
149
1966
150
1967
151
1968
152
1969
154
1970
151
1971
149
1972
148
1973
146
1974
146
1975
142
1976
142
1977
143
1978
141
1979
142
1980
141
1981
140
1982
141
1983
135
1984
134
1985
134
1986
136
1987
134
1988
134
1989
131
1990
131
1991
130
1992
128
1993
126
1994
124
1995
123
1996
121
1997
122
1998
122
1999
120
2000
121
2001
119
2002
116
2003
113
2004
112
2005
110
2006
111
2007
108
2008
110
2009
103
2010
101
2011
99
2012
102
2013
98
2014
100
2015
101
2016
100
2017
100
2018
100
2019
98
2020
101
2021
98
2022
95
2023
94
2024
93
2025
93
2026
92
Source: FRED · COMPRNFB/OPHNFB · econscout.com