Via the Economist journalist Daniel Knowles comes a good example of why its important to look below the surface of statistics. American economist Steve Landsburg addresses a commonly heard refrain – that the wage of the median worker has barely risen in the past thirty years – and shows that all is not as it seems.
Landsburg cites a book by economist Edward Conard (first chapter, containing what we’re talking about, here), which itself cites the Census Bureau. I confess that, without a more specific citation, I can’t find the exact data Conard uses, but have found similar enough data (pdf, table A-5) to confirm the overall thrust of the argument.
| 1980 Median | 2005 Median | Increase | |
| All Workers | 25,000 | 25,700 | 3% |
| White Men | 30,700 | 35,200 | 15% |
| Nonwhite Men | 19,300 | 22,300 | 16% |
| White Women | 11,200 | 19,600 | 75% |
| Nonwhite Women | 10,200 | 16,500 | 62% |
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