Between 2000 and the second quarter of 2015, the share of income generated by corporations that went to workers’ wages (instead of going to capital incomes like profits) declined from 82.3 percent to 75.5 percent, as the figure shows. This 6.8 percentage-point decline in labor’s share of corporate income might not seem like a lot, but if labor’s share had not fallen this much, employees in the corporate sector would have $535 billion more in their paychecks today. If this amount was spread over the entire labor force (not just corporate sector employees) this would translate into a $3,770 raise for each worker.

Economic Snapshot The decline in labor’s share of corporate income since 2000 means $535 billion less for workers : Share of corporate-sector income received by workers over recent business cycles, 1979–2015 Labor share Jan-1979 79.0% Apr-1979 79.5% Jul-1979 80.2% Oct-1979 80.8% Jan-1980 81.2% Apr-1980 82.7% Jul-1980 81.9% Oct-1980 80.6% Jan-1981 80.3% Apr-1981 80.4% Jul-1981 79.6% Oct-1981 80.5% Jan-1982 81.6% Apr-1982 81.0% Jul-1982 81.0% Oct-1982 81.4% Jan-1983 81.0% Apr-1983 79.9% Jul-1983 79.4% Oct-1983 79.1% Jan-1984 77.8% Apr-1984 78.0% Jul-1984 78.5% Oct-1984 78.3% Jan-1985 78.4% Apr-1985 78.6% Jul-1985 78.2% Oct-1985 79.6% Jan-1986 79.9% Apr-1986 80.8% Jul-1986 81.5% Oct-1986 81.8% Jan-1987 81.7% Apr-1987 80.9% Jul-1987 80.4% Oct-1987 80.9% Jan-1988 80.9% Apr-1988 80.9% Jul-1988 80.8% Oct-1988 80.2% Jan-1989 80.6% Apr-1989 80.9% Jul-1989 80.9% Oct-1989 81.9% Jan-1990 81.8% Apr-1990 81.6% Jul-1990 82.7% Oct-1990 83.1% Jan-1991 82.2% Apr-1991 82.5% Jul-1991 82.8% Oct-1991 83.3% Jan-1992 83.0% Apr-1992 83.1% Jul-1992 83.6% Oct-1992 83.0% Jan-1993 83.5% Apr-1993 82.7% Jul-1993 82.7% Oct-1993 81.4% Jan-1994 81.4% Apr-1994 81.3% Jul-1994 80.6% Oct-1994 80.3% Jan-1995 80.6% Apr-1995 80.4% Jul-1995 79.5% Oct-1995 79.7% Jan-1996 79.1% Apr-1996 79.1% Jul-1996 79.2% Oct-1996 79.3% Jan-1997 79.0% Apr-1997 78.9% Jul-1997 78.3% Oct-1997 78.5% Jan-1998 79.9% Apr-1998 79.9% Jul-1998 79.8% Oct-1998 80.4% Jan-1999 80.3% Apr-1999 80.6% Jul-1999 81.0% Oct-1999 81.4% Jan-2000 81.8% Apr-2000 81.9% Jul-2000 82.4% Oct-2000 83.1% Jan-2001 83.1% Apr-2001 82.8% Jul-2001 83.0% Oct-2001 84.0% Jan-2002 82.0% Apr-2002 81.8% Jul-2002 81.8% Oct-2002 80.9% Jan-2003 80.3% Apr-2003 80.1% Jul-2003 79.8% Oct-2003 79.9% Jan-2004 78.8% Apr-2004 78.7% Jul-2004 78.6% Oct-2004 78.5% Jan-2005 77.0% Apr-2005 76.9% Jul-2005 77.2% Oct-2005 76.0% Jan-2006 75.5% Apr-2006 75.4% Jul-2006 74.7% Oct-2006 76.1% Jan-2007 77.3% Apr-2007 76.9% Jul-2007 78.3% Oct-2007 79.4% Jan-2008 79.8% Apr-2008 79.7% Jul-2008 80.1% Oct-2008 83.7% Jan-2009 79.8% Apr-2009 79.4% Jul-2009 78.4% Oct-2009 77.4% Jan-2010 76.4% Apr-2010 76.7% Jul-2010 74.9% Oct-2010 74.9% Jan-2011 77.1% Apr-2011 76.0% Jul-2011 76.0% Oct-2011 74.2% Jan-2012 74.6% Apr-2012 74.2% Jul-2012 73.9% Oct-2012 74.6% Jan-2013 74.3% Apr-2013 74.3% Jul-2013 74.7% Oct-2013 74.6% Jan-2014 76.4% Apr-2014 75.0% Jul-2014 74.1% Oct-2014 75.0% Jan-2015 75.7% Apr-2015 75.5% Chart Data Download data The data below can be saved or copied directly into Excel. The data underlying the figure. Note: Shaded areas denote recessions. Federal Reserve banks' corporate profits were netted out in the calculation of labor share. Source: EPI analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis National Income and Product Accounts (Tables 1.14 and 6.16D) Share on Facebook Tweet this chart Embed Copy the code below to embed this chart on your website. Download image

As Lawrence Mishel and I discuss in our recent paper, the largest wedge driving the growing gap between economy-wide productivity and typical workers’ pay is rising inequality. Part of this increase in inequality is the shift in national income from labor compensation to capital incomes. Since 2000, this decline in labor’s share of income has become a significant contributor to the inequality wedge. The figure shows labor’s share of corporate sector income. Because all income in the corporate sector is either classified as labor compensation or capital incomes (profits plus net interest), this makes it a sensible first place to look for this labor-to-capital shift.