Why Is Wage Growth So Slow In The U.S.? Hint: China And India Are Responsible, Not U.S. Employers

In the U.S., economists seem dumbfounded at the lack of wage growth. Here are two looks at two commonly used data points.

The first is the year-over-year growth in average hourly earnings of All Private Employees. The annual growth rate has been stuck around 2% for over five years now.

The lack of recent growth and the improved employment pictures (as measured by the JOLTS/unemployment rate/and others) has some economists speculating that wage growth will accelerate sooner rather than later.

The second is the year-over-year growth rate in Private Non-Supervisory Average Hourly Earnings. In contrast to the first figure, the non-supervisory figure shows annual wage growth slowing to around 1.75%.

Although the ups-and-downs provide an interesting insight into the wages of all employees...