Blog
A Couple of Insights from the April Current Population Survey
Abstract: The latest reading of the Atlanta Fed’s Wage Growth Tracker indicates that wage growth is slowing. It came in at 3.3 percent for April, down from 3.5 percent in March and 3.7 percent in February. This slowing primarily reflects the relatively large decline in the employment of those who typically experience the fastest wage growth: young workers. In February, those aged 16–24 accounted for about 12 percent of employment. By April, that share had dropped to under 10 percent. This change has significant bearing on the Wage Growth Tracker because those aged 16–24 had median wage growth of around 7.8 percent on average over the last year, versus 3.6 percent for all workers. So their decreased share of employment has helped pull overall median wage growth lower (see here for more discussion).
Keywords: Economics; Monetary Policy; Surveys; COVID-19;
Access Documents
Authors
Bibliographic Information
Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Source: Macroblog
Publication Date: 2020-05-18