Care to explain how you arrived at that conclusion from these data? As I understand it, for your claims to be true, the inflation-adjusted curve should go under 0, but it never does
The gray line, with the scale at the left of the graph, shows the average wage in dollars per hour that the worker was paid at the time. In 1973, that was $4 per hour. In 2019, that was approaching $24 per hour.The red line, with the scale at the right of the graph, shows the average wage in dollars per hour if paid at the value of a 2017 dollar.
In 1973, the average wage in terms of 2017 dollars was over $23. It has never been higher than that value since. The closet it has got is just now, at around $22.50.
Well, I have different data, which actually shows the change in inflation-adjusted wages (more specifically, earnings) over time. It is based on the Social Security Administration wage statistics (link):
I would suggest you read the paper you have shared that table from, because it does not back up the point you are trying to make.Look at the 5 categories in the table you have shared. Top 0.1%, top 1%, top 5%, top 10%, and everybody else. The higher earners have experienced real wages increases, yes, but "everybody else" has had wage stagnation. You'll also notice as well that the table picks arbitrary dates - 1979 was already down significantly from the 1973 peak. If you compare to the actual peak, that stagnation turns negative.
Here are a few quotes from that paper:
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However, low-wage workers experienced stagnant (in the case of women) or declining (in the case of men) real hourly wages since the late 1970s.
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The earnings of non-college-educated men stagnated or lost ground since the mid-1970s.
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Most recently, persistent slack in the postrecession job market has led to flat wage growth, stuck at around 2 % in nominal terms, about the rate of inflation, implying flat average compensation in real terms.
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For much of the last 3½ decades, trends in real wages for various different groups in the workforce have been stagnant or worse. As shown above, this is true for middle- or low-wage deciles, most education levels, the bottom 90 % of annual earners, and even the national share of labor-based income.
