The Economy Is Growing. So Why Are Workers Getting Less of It Than Ever?

Workers assemble Rivian R2 SUVs at the company's manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois on May 19, 2026. New government data shows U.S. workers now receive just 53.7 percent of economic output as compensation — the lowest share recorded since 1947, even as factory productivity surges. (Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The U.S. economy kept growing in the first quarter of 2026. Productivity rose. Output expanded. Corporate efficiency improved. By almost every headline measure, things looked fine.

But buried inside a routine government report released Thursday morning is a number that tells a very different story: workers are now receiving just 53.7 percent of economic output in the form of compensation — the lowest share recorded since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the figure in 1947. That was the year Harry Truman was president, the Cold War was just beginning, and the American middle class was still being built. It hasn't been this low since.