Recession Compensation

This chart compares percent changes in public and private worker compensation within each of the five largest sectors in the United States during the 12 months ending March 2010. Taken together, these sectors employ over 65 million American workers. Across these sectors, compensation costs for private sector workers increased 1.78 percent during the period examined. During this same period, public sector wages increased by 1.92 percent. These trends are consistent with public-private compensation trends throughout the economy.

Learn more about the public sector wage premium.