In the 11th year of a record expansion, the rising tide of the U.S. economy hasn’t been lifting all boats equally –- at least when it comes to pay.

Unemployment is the lowest for half a century, and wages have been picking up steam across the board –- but the biggest rewards from a strong economy are still skewed toward white people, men and high earners, according to an annual study by the Economic Policy Institute.

The findings contradict some of President Donald Trump’s key talking points. The president frequently calls the economy the best ever, and argues that previously left-behind groups are benefiting from a “blue-collar boom.”

While there have been gradual improvements for many, some disparities have actually worsened over time -- such as the wage gap between blacks and whites, which is wider now than in 2000. Along with tight labor markets, minimum wage legislation at the local level has helped deliver some of the gains for low earners, the EPI data show.

In the past two decades -- encompassing two expansions and a recession -- wage growth has been fastest for the highest-paid workers. That puts into perspective the close-up view from the government’s labor reports, which in some recent months have shown gains for the majority of workers outpacing those of the managerial class.

It wasn’t until last year that workers with some college education got back to their pre-2008 wage level. Men with a standard college degree are still paid more than women with an advanced one, and black workers with some college education still get paid less than in 2000. Nevertheless, most black workers experienced stronger wage growth between 2018 and 2019 than any year since 2000, the report said.

Hispanic workers were the only ethnic group to see their wages rise across all education levels from 2018 to 2019. Still, at almost every level, Hispanic and black workers were paid less than white peers.

There’s disparity even near the top. For example, men in the 95th percentile saw a 37% wage gain in the last 20 years, about twice that for those just next door in the 90th percentile. As for the median, wages ticked up only 3.4%. And among the top 0.1%, earnings grew at more than double the pace of the mere 1%.

The lowest-paid men saw faster wage growth than those in the middle, with the 10th percentile rising 12% and the 20th up 10%.
But those gains among the lowest-paid workers are concentrated during economic expansions, with wages accelerating a few years into boom cycles and tapering off.

This is one reason Federal Reserve policy makers are comfortable leaving interest rates at historically low levels for now; Chairman Jerome Powell has cited growth beginning to reach those on the sidelines.

Minimum wage legislation also helped with wages. Pay rose 18% for the lowest-paid 10% of workers in states where minimum wage legislation was enacted in the last seven years. It rose just 9% in regions without those laws.