If pay had kept pace with productivity gains, minimum wage would be $24 an hour
And if they had kept up since 1949, minimum wage would be $4.22 an hour. Two can play the game of cherrypicking troughs and peaks. Additionally, average productivity is not minimum wage productivity. They are separate statistics, and the bulk of the efficiency gains have not been made at the burger flipper level, but at higher levels, where there have been huge gains in pay. The productivity gains in engineering and manufacturing and energy production, etc... have dragged up the average. Someone stocking shelves in 2020 is about productive as someone stocking shelves in 1968.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnn.com&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;2019&#x2F;business&#x2F;us-minimum-wage-by-year&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnn.com&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;2019&#x2F;business&#x2F;us-minimum-wag...</a>