WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Where do you fit on the earnings scale?
According to data compiled by Goldman Sachs, most American workers earn below $20 per hour. Goldman Sachs economists David Mericle and Chris Mischaikow crunched Labor Department data that is used to generate the monthly jobs report that the market closely watches, in particular from the survey of employers.
The chart, shown above, shows that 19% of workers make less than $12.50 per hour, 32% of workers make between $12.50 and $20 per hour, 30% make between $20 and $30 an hour, 14% make between $30 and $45 per hour, and 5% make over $45 an hour.
The economists also found that, while wage growth has been soft, the fastest growth in income has come to the lowest-paid workers.
And they found that the biggest driver to income growth has been rising employment, with help from rising wages and more hours worked.
Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's Washington bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter @MKTWgoldstein.
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