American corporations are making more money than at any point in roughly 80 years. The workers helping them do it are getting a smaller cut than ever.
Pre-tax corporate earnings hit an annualized $4.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data. That figure represents 18% of national income, a proportion not seen since the years immediately following World War II.
The numbers tell a two-speed story
While profits surge, employee compensation is moving in the opposite direction. The share of national income going to workers has fallen to roughly 60%, with some analyses from the New York Fed pegging the figure as low as 54.1% in early 2026.
For context, workers claimed more than 65% of national income in the decades after WWII. Even as recently as early 2020, the figure stood at 57.7%. The slide from there to 54.1% in about six years is a meaningful acceleration of a trend that had been grinding along slowly for decades.
