Productivity growth is measured in terms of the lowest quality mass produced consumer goods that are still around across the decades, because it's measured alon

Productivity growth is measured in terms of the lowest quality mass produced consumer goods that are still around across the decades, because it's measured along with estimating inflation, which is measured that way. So inflation has been higher than the conventional government provided numbers, and productivity growth lower. You can buy more cheap boxed stuff for an hour's wages, and you can get much more advanced technology and other advances in the quality of products and services. But people can't live on enhanced quality, phones with more features, or increased quantities of the lowest quality of food, when they're trying to live an American lifestyle that takes a car, housing, medical care, education, and so on. Also consider that the median wage in the U.S. includes the effect of a lot of immigration. Average immigrants make more than they would in their countries of origin, but less than average Americans, while average American born workers have done better than the median statistic. College educated American born workers have done better yet, but a lot of that increase has been paid in the form of mortgages and rent to retirees and the rich, because of urban housing market inflation, as ScottBurson pointed out.