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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Did wage growth in 2017-2019 accelerate from the pace during the Obama Administration?

By Christopher Hutton
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YES

From 2017 to 2019, U.S. wages began to grow at higher annual rates than in the previous several years, reaching a peak rate of increase of 3.8% in the fall of 2019, according to Labor Department figures for production and nonsupervisory workers. After hitting a low of 1.2% in 2012, in the early years of recovery from recession, the pace had recovered to 2.4% in the last month of President Obama's term.

The Atlanta branch of the Federal Reserve Bank uses different data-collection methods but outlines a similar trend, with a gradual, uneven recovery from an annual growth rate of well under 2% in early 2010 to almost 4% by late 2016. On the Atlanta Fed's measure overall wage growth has fluctuated between 3% and 4% since, reaching 3.8% in January of this year.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Economic Policy Institute: Nominal wage tracker
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: Wage growth tracker
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.