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A Shrinking Slice of the American Economic Pie
Workers’ share of non-farm business income is near a record low
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Workers are getting a thinner slice of the American economic pie even with strong growth, robust hiring, rising corporate profits and the Trump administration’s tax cuts. Labor’s share of income of U.S. non-farm businesses -- reflecting salary and other employee compensation -- fell to 56.5 percent in the second quarter, down from the prior three months and below a year earlier, government data show. Some reasons why the share is still near a post-World War II low: technological advances, globalization, workers’ waning bargaining power and the rise of superstar firms, the theme of the Federal Reserve’s annual policy summit in Jackson Hole this week.