Reconciling the divergence in aggregate U.S. wage series

•Three commonly used series of average hourly wages for the U.S. have diverged markedly over the past 40 years, both in trend growth and volatility.•The divergence between the wage series is due in large part to differences in earnings concept and worker coverage.•Employer-paid supplements and irregular earnings of high-income workers are more volatile than wages and have grown more rapidly, accounting for a large part of the divergences.•The differences have important implications for the appropriate choice of average hourly wage series for macroeconomic analysis.