New York's Stubbornly Sluggish Wage Growth, in 2 Charts

The wage gap has been growing in the U.S. since the 1980s, and 2015 saw no departure from this trend. The difference between the highest and lowest wage earners is particularly stark in big cities. In the New York metro area, for example, the top 10 percent of workers make around six times more than the bottom 10 percent of earners, CityLab’s Richard Florida recently found.

Now, a new report released by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer includes a breakdown of wage growth trends that show why economic growth has been so unequal. Simply put, most of the job growth in the last five years has been in industries that pay very low wages. “Our economic recovery continues to benefit the city and the budget, but not everyone living and working in New York is sharing those benefits,” Stringer said when he presented the report.