Technology Hits Workers' Income Share More Than Trade, IMF Says

  • Labor’s share of income falling in most major economies
  • Advances in technology accelerating automation of routine jobs

Yaskawa Electric Corp. Motoman robots bound for shipment sit at the company's factory in Kitakyushu, Japan, on Thursday, July 16, 2015. In factory robots, Japanese companies including Yaskawa Electric, Fanuc and Kawasaki Heavy Industries command 50 percent of the global market, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg
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The advance of technology is the biggest reason workers are earning a shrinking slice of the income pie, according to a new study by the International Monetary Fund.

Labor’s share of national income declined in 29 of the world’s 50 biggest economies between 1991 and 2014, the IMF said in a study released Monday.