Rapid wage growth at the bottom has offset rising US inequality

US earnings inequality rose steadily for over three decades, reshaping the labor market and driving much policy attention. However, overall US earnings inequality has plateaued in the last decade. This is due to particularly fast earnings growth among low-wage workers rather than median-wage workers catching up with those at the top. Key drivers of secular rising inequality have continued. However, these have been offset by rapid, although unsecured, earnings growth at the bottom of the labor market.