Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[sgolds]

spokeshave, more good numbers! I worked with this reference to determine the compensation of employees normalized over the population, and then the percentage difference in successive quarters. I found that the compensation did increase (as you assert), although the rate of increase has been anemic as compared to other recovery periods. Good news, bad news. The data does not show the inflation rate during this period so I can't say whether the current rate exceeds or falls behind inflation; it looks like most recent quarters the wage increase was behind inflation but the most recent quarter was above. (In the 1990s compensation increases were clearly ahead of the inflation rate.)

So when you normalize the compensation by the population and consider the inflation rate then things do look quite different.

Here is the entire chart going back to 1947, with a minor correction from an earlier version of this post (incorrect post deleted):

 
 Comp(B): Compensation in billions 
 Pop:     Population at midpoint, in thousands 
 Per Cap: Normalized compensation per capita 
  
  Quarter        Comp(B)	Pop	Per Cap	        %change 
  2004-I 	6408.8	292841	21884.91	1.47 
  2003-IV 	6302.0	292190	21568.16	0.91 
  2003-III 	6229.4	291445	21374.19	0.76 
  2003-II 	6166.2	290689	21212.36	0.61 
  2003-I 	6114.4	290016	21082.97	0.70 
  2002-IV 	6058.0	289360	20935.86	0.18 
  2002-III 	6031.1	288605	20897.42	0.01 
  2002-II 	6014.8	287840	20896.33	0.47 
  2002-I 	5972.4	287156	20798.45	0.16 
  2001-IV 	5949.3	286490	20766.17	-0.12 
  2001-III 	5940.8	285726	20791.95	-0.19 
  2001-II 	5936.0	284952	20831.58	-0.23 
  2001-I 	5935.6	284265	20880.52	0.84 
  2000-IV 	5871.9	283582	20706.18	0.31 
  2000-III 	5837.4	282800	20641.44	1.64 
  2000-II 	5727.2	282014	20308.21	0.33 
  2000-I 	5694.1	281304	20241.80	3.33 
  1999-IV 	5496.5	280592	19588.94	2.03 
  1999-III 	5371.2	279751	19199.93	1.07 
  1999-II 	5297.3	278864	18996.00	0.76 
  1999-I 	5242.8	278103	18852.01	1.62 
  1998-IV 	5146.4	277400	18552.27	1.36 
  1998-III 	5062.2	276564	18303.90	1.38 
  1998-II 	4977.6	275703	18054.21	1.43 
  1998-I 	4894.1	274950	17799.96	1.89 
  1997-IV 	4790.8	274246	17468.99	1.76 
  1997-III 	4693.4	273391	17167.35	1.30 
  1997-II 	4617.9	272487	16947.23	1.06 
  1997-I 	4556.4	271709	16769.41	1.49 
  1996-IV 	4477.8	270991	16523.80	1.01 
  1996-III 	4419.1	270128	16359.28	1.05 
  1996-II 	4359.0	269251	16189.35	1.28 
  1996-I 	4291.7	268487	15984.76	1.00 
  1995-IV 	4238.7	267820	15826.67	0.67 
  1995-III 	4197.5	267000	15720.97	0.74 
  1995-II 	4153.2	266142	15605.20	0.55 
  1995-I 	4118.6	265388	15519.16	1.10 
  1994-IV 	4062.8	264678	15349.97	1.03 
  1994-III 	4009.0	263870	15193.09	0.57 
  1994-II 	3973.4	263020	15106.84	2.29 
  1994-I 	3873.2	262250	14769.11	-1.24 
  1993-IV 	3911.4	261547	14954.86	2.03 
  1993-III 	3821.2	260714	14656.67	0.73 
  1993-II 	3780.5	259826	14550.12	2.79 
  1993-I 	3666.6	259039	14154.63	-2.80 
  1992-IV 	3761.0	258277	14561.89	2.41 
  1992-III 	3659.9	257386	14219.50	0.81 
  1992-II 	3617.0	256439	14104.72	1.07 
  1992-I 	3566.8	255585	13955.44	1.65 
  1991-IV 	3498.5	254835	13728.49	0.72 
  1991-III 	3461.5	253965	13629.83	0.65 
  1991-II 	3426.9	253063	13541.69	0.64 
  1991-I 	3394.4	252258	13456.06	0.14 
  1990-IV 	3379.2	251482	13437.14	-0.09 
  1990-III 	3370.2	250595	13448.79	0.84 
  1990-II 	3330.5	249711	13337.42	1.45 
  1990-I 	3272.8	248936	13147.15	1.80 
  1989-IV 	3207.7	248374	12914.80	1.29 
  1989-III 	3158.3	247698	12750.61	0.88 
  1989-II 	3122.1	247017	12639.21	0.72 
  1989-I 	3092.8	246460	12548.89	1.34 
  1988-IV 	3045.9	245966	12383.42	1.47 
  1988-III 	2994.2	245354	12203.59	1.39 
  1988-II 	2945.5	244716	12036.40	1.95 
  1988-I 	2883.1	244208	11805.92	1.53 
  1987-IV 	2833.9	243721	11627.64	2.15 
  1987-III 	2767.3	243120	11382.44	1.45 
  1987-II 	2721.1	242520	11220.11	1.37 
  1987-I 	2678.6	242009	11068.18	1.61 
  1986-IV 	2631.1	241539	10893.06	1.68 
  1986-III 	2581.4	240962	10712.89	1.17 
  1986-II 	2545.3	240368	10589.18	0.68 
  1986-I 	2522.7	239861	10517.34	1.15 
  1985-IV 	2489.2	239387	10398.23	1.72 
  1985-III 	2441.1	238789	10222.83	1.31 
  1985-II 	2403.3	238176	10090.44	1.36 
  1985-I 	2366.0	237673	 9954.85	1.78 
  1984-IV 	2320.3	237232	 9780.72	1.45 
  1984-III 	2281.5	236657	 9640.53	1.82 
  1984-II 	2235.2	236082	 9467.90	2.11 
  1984-I 	2184.6	235605	 9272.30	3.11 
  1983-IV 	2114.6	235153	 8992.44	2.42 
  1983-III 	2059.9	234603	 8780.37	1.80 
  1983-II 	2018.5	234028	 8625.04	1.78 
  1983-I 	1979.2	233546	 8474.56	1.24 
  1982-IV 	1951.1	233074	 8371.16	0.48 
  1982-III 	1937.0	232498	 8331.25	0.78 
  1982-II 	1917.2	231906	 8267.14	0.79 
  1982-I 	1898.0	231395	 8202.42	1.05 
  1981-IV 	1874.2	230903	 8116.83	1.25 
  1981-III 	1846.2	230301	 8016.47	1.83 
  1981-II 	1808.0	229674	 7872.03	1.66 
  1981-I 	1774.5	229155	 7743.67	2.83 
  1980-IV 	1722.1	228689	 7530.31	3.62 
  1980-III 	1657.4	228070	 7267.07	1.68 
  1980-II 	1625.1	227389	 7146.78	1.11 
  1980-I 	1602.7	226754	 7068.01	2.37 
  1979-IV 	1561.2	226117	 6904.39	2.46 
  1979-III 	1519.0	225418	 6738.59	2.44 
  1979-II 	1478.4	224737	 6578.36	2.03 
  1979-I 	1445.2	224152	 6447.41	2.95 
  1978-IV 	1400.2	223583	 6262.55	3.02 
  1978-III 	1355.2	222933	 6078.96	2.50 
  1978-II 	1318.3	222281	 5930.78	3.57 
  1978-I 	1269.6	221719	 5726.17	2.67 
  1977-IV 	1233.7	221201	 5577.28	2.79 
  1977-III 	1196.8	220573	 5425.87	2.50 
  1977-II 	1164.3	219956	 5293.33	3.07 
  1977-I 	1126.9	219427	 5135.65	2.39 
  1976-IV 	1098.0	218917	 5015.60	2.28 
  1976-III 	1070.7	218338	 4903.86	2.10 
  1976-II 	1046.0	217776	 4803.10	2.10 
  1976-I 	1022.3	217314	 4704.25	3.30 
  1975-IV 	987.5	216848	 4553.88	2.86 
  1975-III 	957.6	216289	 4427.41	2.48 
  1975-II 	931.7	215652	 4320.39	1.09 
  1975-I 	919.4	215135	 4273.60	0.20 
  1974-IV 	915.7	214700	 4265.02	0.97 
  1974-III 	904.6	214147	 4224.20	2.31 
  1974-II 	881.9	213602	 4128.71	2.24 
  1974-I 	860.7	213144	 4038.12	1.95 
  1973-IV 	842.5	212708	 3960.83	2.51 
  1973-III 	819.9	212191	 3863.97	2.09 
  1973-II 	801.1	211663	 3784.79	2.27 
  1973-I 	781.6	211192	 3700.90	3.73 
  1972-IV 	751.9	210737	 3567.95	2.74 
  1972-III 	729.9	210181	 3472.72	1.65 
  1972-II 	716.2	209637	 3416.38	1.69 
  1972-I 	702.6	209142	 3359.44	3.87 
  1971-IV 	674.8	208642	 3234.25	1.39 
  1971-III 	663.5	208000	 3189.90	1.22 
  1971-II 	653.5	207362	 3151.49	1.56 
  1971-I 	641.6	206763	 3103.07	2.52 
  1970-IV 	623.9	206130	 3026.73	-0.12 
  1970-III 	622.5	205419	 3030.39	0.66 
  1970-II 	616.3	204721	 3010.44	1.37 
  1970-I 	606.1	204086	 2969.83	1.07 
  1969-IV 	598.2	203584	 2938.34	1.68 
  1969-III 	586.6	202986	 2889.85	2.66 
  1969-II 	569.8	202419	 2814.95	2.27 
  1969-I 	555.9	201955	 2752.59	2.01 
  1968-IV 	543.8	201538	 2698.25	2.06 
  1968-III 	531.4	200997	 2643.82	2.39 
  1968-II 	517.6	200452	 2582.16	2.36 
  1968-I 	504.5	199995	 2522.56	2.80 
  1967-IV 	489.7	199572	 2453.75	2.01 
  1967-III 	478.7	199012	 2405.38	1.78 
  1967-II 	469.0	198455	 2363.26	0.98 
  1967-I 	463.3	197967	 2340.29	1.09 
  1966-IV 	457.2	197481	 2315.16	1.51 
  1966-III 	449.0	196877	 2280.61	2.25 
  1966-II 	437.8	196277	 2230.52	2.33 
  1966-I 	426.7	195763	 2179.68	2.74 
  1965-IV 	414.3	195279	 2121.58	2.65 
  1965-III 	402.3	194647	 2066.82	1.74 
  1965-II 	394.1	193994	 2031.51	1.48 
  1965-I 	387.3	193467	 2001.89	1.43 
  1964-IV 	380.8	192938	 1973.69	1.30 
  1964-III 	374.6	192256	 1948.44	1.59 
  1964-II 	367.4	191560	 1917.94	1.73 
  1964-I 	360.0	190954	 1885.27	1.49 
  1963-IV 	353.6	190362	 1857.51	1.39 
  1963-III 	347.4	189631	 1831.98	1.07 
  1963-II 	342.4	188906	 1812.54	1.13 
  1963-I 	337.5	188299	 1792.36	1.14 
  1962-IV 	332.6	187680	 1772.17	0.63 
  1962-III 	329.2	186926	 1761.12	0.47 
  1962-II 	326.4	186203	 1752.93	1.52 
  1962-I 	320.4	185553	 1726.73	1.74 
  1961-IV 	313.8	184894	 1697.19	1.71 
  1961-III 	307.2	184103	 1668.63	1.23 
  1961-II 	302.2	183337	 1648.33	1.02 
  1961-I 	298.0	182634	 1631.68	-0.09 
  1960-IV 	297.1	181915	 1633.18	-0.62 
  1960-III 	297.6	181094	 1643.35	-0.18 
  1960-II 	296.9	180335	 1646.38	0.63 
  1960-I 	294.0	179694	 1636.11	2.16 
  1959-IV 	285.5	178268	 1601.52	0.69 
  1959-III 	282.3	177481	 1590.59	-0.18 
  1959-II 	281.6	176727	 1593.42	2.19 
  1959-I 	274.5	176045	 1559.26	2.32 
  1958-IV 	267.2	175340	 1523.90	1.44 
  1958-III 	262.2	174535	 1502.28	2.70 
  1958-II 	254.2	173781	 1462.76	-0.54 
  1958-I 	254.6	173116	 1470.69	-1.73 
  1957-IV 	258.1	172463	 1496.55	-1.07 
  1957-III 	259.7	171684	 1512.66	0.60 
  1957-II 	257.0	170915	 1503.67	0.26 
  1957-I 	255.3	170218	 1499.84	1.04 
  1956-IV 	251.6	169497	 1484.39	1.89 
  1956-III 	245.7	168654	 1456.83	0.81 
  1956-II 	242.6	167869	 1445.17	1.52 
  1956-I 	238.0	167190	 1423.53	1.45 
  1955-IV 	233.6	166481	 1403.16	1.47 
  1955-III 	229.1	165674	 1382.84	2.23 
  1955-II 	223.1	164926	 1352.73	2.45 
  1955-I 	216.9	164266	 1320.42	1.60 
  1954-IV 	212.6	163585	 1299.63	1.57 
  1954-III 	208.3	162792	 1279.55	-0.17 
  1954-II 	207.7	162044	 1281.75	-0.60 
  1954-I 	208.1	161389	 1289.43	-1.37 
  1953-IV 	210.1	160713	 1307.30	-1.17 
  1953-III 	211.6	159963	 1322.81	-0.36 
  1953-II 	211.4	159234	 1327.61	1.26 
  1953-I 	208.0	158648	 1311.08	1.52 
  1952-IV 	204.1	158043	 1291.42	3.34 
  1952-III 	196.6	157324	 1249.65	1.58 
  1952-II 	192.7	156644	 1230.18	0.34 
  1952-I 	191.3	156033	 1226.02	1.88 
  1951-IV 	187.0	155389	 1203.43	1.70 
  1951-III 	183.0	154655	 1183.28	0.81 
  1951-II 	180.7	153947	 1173.78	2.97 
  1951-I 	174.8	153336	 1139.98	4.38 
  1950-IV 	166.8	152724	 1092.17	4.44 
  1950-III 	159.0	152039	 1045.78	5.12 
  1950-II 	150.6	151385	  994.81	3.78 
  1950-I 	144.6	150852	  958.56	2.48 
  1949-IV 	140.5	150211	  935.35	-0.81 
  1949-III 	141.0	149529	  942.96	-1.27 
  1949-II 	142.2	148891	  955.06	-1.57 
  1949-I 	143.9	148298	  970.34	-1.73 
  1948-IV 	145.8	147659	  987.41	0.36 
  1948-III 	144.6	146973	  983.85	3.28 
  1948-II 	139.4	146341	  952.57	0.76 
  1948-I 	137.8	145761	  945.38	2.17 
  1947-IV 	134.3	145135	  925.35	2.83 
  1947-III 	130.0	144462	  899.89	0.55 
  1947-II 	128.7	143803	  894.97	0.72 
  1947-I 	127.2	143156	  888.54