How Much Did the Minimum Wage Drive Real Wage Growth During the Late 2010s?

Daniel Aaronson, Luojia Hu and Aastha Rajan

Chicago Fed Letter, 2020, issue 435

Abstract: For much of the recent expansion, real wage growth was surprisingly sluggish, by some measures never reaching its pace prior to the 2008 financial crisis, despite tight labor markets that drove the unemployment rate to 3.5%. However, on average, the lowest-earning workers fared substantially better, consistently experiencing real wage growth of 6% or more for much of the late 2010s, a pace well above the previous two decades.

Keywords: Minimum wage; Wages; Covid-19; Labor market (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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