Have median wages stagnated?

This is a very common charge.  It is true that median wage growth has been slower than usual over the last thirty years.  But it’s not quite the grim picture it is often made out to be. 

For instance: "Including estimated benefits adds 6 percentage points to the growth rate of
average hourly earnings and 8 percentage points to the growth rate of the median hourly wage."  For the last thirty years, twenty-eight percent growth in median wages is the best available estimate.  Don’t let anyone tell you it is zero or negative.

Here is the one good summary article on this topic.  Thanks to a loyal MR reader for the pointer.

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