Wage Gap
        HOURLY OUTPUT AND REAL COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES: 1909-1998
        (hourly earnings in dollars, all other values are indices)

                         Manuf.   Manuf. Business Wage Gap
       Manuf. Business  Average     Real     Real  (Output      CPI    CPI-U
       Output   Output   Hourly   Hourly   Hourly   / Real    (1914 (1982-84
Year per hour per hour Earnings Earnings Compens. Compens)    =100)    =100)
---- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------  -------  -------
1909     26.9     12.8     0.19     0.21     17.4     73.4     91.3      9.1
1910     26.6     12.6     0.20     0.21     17.3     73.0     94.7      9.5
1911     25.4     12.1     0.20     0.21     17.8     68.0     95.2      9.5
1912     29.2     13.9     0.21     0.21     17.9     77.5     97.2      9.7
1913     30.6     14.6     0.21     0.22     18.1     80.3     98.9      9.9
1914     30.7     14.6     0.22     0.22     18.4     79.3    100.0     10.0
1915     34.7     16.5     0.27     0.27     22.4     73.8    101.1     10.1
1916     34.1     16.2     0.32     0.29     24.6     65.8    108.7     10.9
1917     31.7     15.1     0.37     0.29     24.3     62.2    127.7     12.8
1918     31.7     15.1     0.42     0.28     23.4     64.3    150.0     15.0
1919     30.2     14.4     0.47     0.27     22.8     63.0    172.5     17.3
1920     32.0     15.2     0.55     0.28     23.1     66.0    199.7     20.0
1921     36.9     17.5     0.51     0.29     24.0     73.2    178.1     17.8
1922     41.8     19.9     0.48     0.29     24.1     82.6    166.9     16.7
1923     40.2     19.1     0.52     0.31     25.6     74.5    169.7     17.0
1924     42.8     20.4     0.54     0.32     26.5     76.7    170.3     17.0
1925     45.6     21.7     0.54     0.31     25.9     83.9    174.8     17.5
1926     46.5     22.1     0.54     0.31     25.7     86.2    176.2     17.6
1927     47.6     22.6     0.54     0.31     26.2     86.5    172.8     17.3
1928     49.7     23.6     0.56     0.33     27.4     86.2    170.9     17.1
1929     52.0     24.7     0.56     0.33     27.4     90.2    170.9     17.1
1930     52.3     24.9     0.55     0.33     27.7     89.9    166.4     16.6
1931     54.0     25.7     0.51     0.34     28.2     91.1    151.5     15.2
1932     50.5     24.0     0.44     0.32     27.1     88.7    136.1     13.6
1933     54.9     26.1     0.44     0.34     28.6     91.3    128.8     12.9
1934     57.4     27.3     0.53     0.40     33.3     82.0    133.3     13.3
1935     61.2     29.1     0.54     0.40     33.1     88.0    136.7     13.7
1936     61.6     29.3     0.55     0.40     33.3     87.9    138.1     13.8
1937     60.7     28.9     0.62     0.43     36.3     79.6    143.1     14.3
1938     59.9     28.5     0.62     0.44     36.9     77.2    140.6     14.1
1939     65.4     31.1     0.63     0.46     38.1     81.6    138.4     13.8
1940     68.7     32.7     0.66     0.47     39.6     82.5    139.5     14.0
1941     71.2     33.9     0.73     0.50     41.7     81.2    146.5     14.7
1942     72.4     34.4     0.85     0.52     43.8     78.6    162.5     16.3
1943     73.4     34.9     0.96     0.56     46.6     74.9    172.5     17.3
1944     72.5     34.5     1.01     0.58     48.2     71.5    175.3     17.5
1945     71.5     34.0     1.02     0.57     47.6     71.4    179.3     17.9
1946     65.8     31.3     1.08     0.56     46.5     67.3    194.4     19.4
1947     69.6     33.1     1.22     0.55     45.9     72.2    222.7     22.3
1948     72.1     34.3     1.33     0.56     46.5     73.8    239.5     24.0
1949     74.9     35.6     1.38     0.58     48.7     73.1    237.2     23.7
1950     81.4     38.7     1.44     0.60     50.3     76.9    239.5     24.0
1951     81.3     38.7     1.56     0.60     50.5     76.5    258.5     25.9
1952     83.0     39.5     1.65     0.62     52.2     75.6    264.4     26.4
1953     86.9     41.3     1.74     0.65     54.6     75.7    266.7     26.7
1954     88.3     42.0     1.78     0.67     55.7     75.4    267.5     26.8
1955     94.9     45.1     1.86     0.70     58.3     77.4    266.9     26.7
1956     96.5     45.9     1.95     0.72     60.2     76.2    270.9     27.1
1957     97.6     46.4     2.05     0.73     61.2     75.8    280.3     28.0
1958    100.0     47.6     2.11     0.73     61.3     77.5    287.9     28.9
1959    106.2     50.5     2.19     0.75     63.1     80.0    290.5     29.1
1960    108.8     51.4     2.26     0.77     64.7     79.4    294.9     29.6
1961    112.6     53.2     2.32     0.78     66.6     79.9    299.0     29.9
1962    116.6     55.7     2.39     0.79     68.9     80.8    302.0     30.2
1963    121.5     57.9     2.46     0.80     70.6     82.0    306.0     30.6
1964    125.6     60.6     2.53     0.82     73.3     82.7    310.0     31.0
1965    131.0     62.7     2.61     0.83     74.8     83.8    315.0     31.5
1966    134.2     65.2     2.72     0.84     77.6     84.0    324.0     32.4
1967    135.0     66.6     2.83     0.85     79.5     83.8    334.0     33.4
1968    142.0     68.9     3.01     0.86     82.5     83.5    348.0     34.8
1969    145.7     69.2     3.19     0.87     83.8     82.6    367.0     36.7
1970              70.6     3.36     0.87     85.4     82.7    388.0     38.8
1971              73.6                       87.1     84.5              40.5
1972              76.0                       89.6     84.8              41.8
1973              78.4                       91.6     85.6              44.4
1974              77.1                       90.6     85.1              49.3
1975              79.8                       91.5     87.2              53.8
1976              82.5                       94.1     87.7              56.9
1977              84.0                       95.3     88.1              60.6
1978              84.9                       96.5     88.0              65.2
1979              84.5                       95.0     88.9              72.6
1980              84.2                       92.8     90.7              82.4
1981              85.8                       92.1     93.2              90.9
1982              85.3                       93.2     91.5              96.5
1983              88.0                       94.0     93.6              99.6
1984              90.2                       94.1     95.9             103.9
1985              91.7                       95.3     96.2             107.6
1986              94.1                       98.4     95.6             109.6
1987              94.0                       98.6     95.3             113.6
1988              94.7                       99.1     95.6             118.3
1989              95.5                       97.2     98.3             124.0
1990              96.1                       97.4     98.7             130.7
1991              96.7                       98.0     98.7             136.2
1992             100.0                      100.0    100.0             140.3
1993             100.1                       99.5    100.6             144.5
1994             100.7                       98.8    101.9             148.2
1995             101.0                       98.4    102.6             152.4
1996             103.7                       99.0    104.7             156.9
1997             105.4                      100.5    104.9             160.5
1998             107.6                      102.9    104.5             163.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The indices from 1909 to 1958 are not directly comparable to those from
      1959 to 1998 due to differences in definition;
      pre-1959 output was converted by multiplying by 1959 ratio of 0.4755179;
      pre-1959 earnings were converted by multiplying by 1959 ratio of 83.70114;
      pre-1958 CPI (1914=100) was converted by multiplying by 0.1;
      Manuf. Average Hourly Earnings from 1910-1913 and 1915-1918 were obtained
      via interpolation; Manuf. Real Hourly Earnings are in 1914 dollars;
      1998 Output and Compensation values are the average of first 3 quarters
Source: 1999 Economic Report of the President, Tables B-49 and B-60
        (online at http://www.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/fy2000/erp.html);
        Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970,
        Series D 685, D 727, D 802

================================================================================

       INDEX VALUE                        AVERAGE ANNUAL CHANGE (percent)
       ---------------------------------  --------------------------------------
       Output     Real             CPI-U  Output    Real           CPI-U
          per   Hourly     Wage (1982-84     per  Hourly    Wage 1982-84
Year     hour    Comp.      Gap    =100)    hour   Comp.     Gap   =100)  Decade
----  -------  -------  -------  -------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
1910     12.6     17.3     73.0      9.5
1920     15.2     23.1     66.0     20.0    2.03    3.31   -0.96   11.09  1910's
1930     24.9     27.7     89.9     16.6    6.34    2.00    3.62   -1.67  1920's
1940     32.7     39.6     82.5     14.0    3.14    4.31   -0.82   -1.62  1930's
1950     38.7     50.3     76.9     24.0    1.85    2.71   -0.68    7.17  1940's
1960     51.4     64.7     79.4     29.6    3.28    2.86    0.33    2.36  1950's
1970     70.6     85.4     82.7     38.8    3.74    3.20    0.41    3.11  1960's
1980     84.2     92.8     90.7     82.4    1.93    0.87    0.98   11.24  1970's
1990     96.1     97.4     98.7    130.7    1.41    0.50    0.87    5.86  1980's
1998    107.6    102.9    104.5    163.0    1.49    0.71    0.74    3.09  1990's

Note: average annual change is total percent change divided by number of years
Source: previous table

Go to Budget Home Page