U.S. Labor Share (Nonfarm Business)

## What this measures

The share of nonfarm business output that goes to workers as pay and benefits, as an index with 2017 = 100. What doesn't go to labor goes to capital: profits, interest and depreciation.

## Why it matters

How the gains from growth are split between workers and owners of capital. If AI automates tasks faster than it creates new ones, economists expect the labor share to fall even while output rises.

## How to read it

Read the direction over several quarters, not one print. The series is an index, so compare it with its own history rather than reading it as a percentage of output.

## What it does not say

It doesn't say why the share moved. Profit margins, energy prices, the business cycle, depreciation of new equipment and self-employment accounting all move it. It covers the nonfarm business sector only and is revised.

## Source

Bureau of Labor Statistics, series PRS85006173 ("Nonfarm Business Sector: Labor Share for All Workers"). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly. Bureau of Labor Statistics data are in the public domain.