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2007, No. 29
Posted 2007-12-02

What Do You Get for "Sixteen Tons"?

by Cletus C. Coughlin and Lesli S. Ott

The pay for an hour of work fell in real terms by 3 percent between 1975 and 2006. Is the average worker actually receiving less per hour of work today than 31 years ago? The answer is likely no. In fact, an alternative measure of compensation, national labor income per hour, increased 44 percent during this period.