It took six years for wages to recover from the recession in the 2000/2001 time frame as reported by analysis of the IRS reports. Obviously wage growth outpaced productivity returns during the late ’90s so a natural contraction was needed to clear out the waste. But six years is still a lot of time to just get back, especially when you consider the productivity gains made during the last 5 years. Here are some of the stats:
Adjusted Tax Returns:
2000 – $57,289
2001 – $51,870
2006 – $58,029
Percent increase from 2000 to 2006 – 1.2%
Total income increase by $619.2 Billion, an 8.3% increase
All of it went to people earning more than $75,000
$260 Billion of that total went to those making over $1 million
Average Wage:
2000 – $47,097
2003 – $45,956
2006 – $46,996
More information on the subject can be found at this David Cay Johnston article called Average U.S. Income Rose in 2006 in the NY Times
Working Thoughts 