So, many possible reasons, and one way or another it's the relative power of employer vs. labor, but one possible factor: the longer the downturn/slowdown, the

So, many possible reasons, and one way or another it's the relative power of employer vs. labor, but one possible factor: the longer the downturn/slowdown, the longer after it ends before wages go up. The recovery from the Great Recession was by far the slowest in living memory, so it takes longer before employers stop thinking "people will take this job soon, I just know it", and instead think "I'd better raise the pay or I'll lose the people I've got". And maybe they think that, because it's true, and you have to have a good labor market for a longer period of time before people start to hop jobs more, if they experienced a longer wait before they got the job they have.