A note on the apparent constancy of the racial wage gap in New Jersey manufacturing, 1902 to 1979

Conclusion This discussion around the black-white wage gap will continue. Inadequate data alone will make it difficult to distinguish recent fluctuations and once-only changes from long-term trends. For those who believe the racial wage gap is narrowing, the 1902 New Jersey survey of blacks in manufacturing presents a puzzle. Why at the outset of black entry into this sector of the economy do we find a racial wage gap as narrow as the one observed for New Jersey manufacturing in 1969, a year at the top of the post-World War II business cycle? Michael Reich argues that “in every region but the South the relative income of non-white males shows substantial cyclical fluctuations… but shows no upward trend over time.” The baseline established by the 1902 New Jersey survey is compatible with Reich’s conclusion.