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Real Wages Keep Underwhelming
wallstreetexaminer.com / by Alan Tonelson via RealityChek /
The inflation-adjusted wage data released by the government this morning illustrates splendidly the truth that baselines can matter decisively in judging economic progress (or backsliding).
The overall September figure for the private sector nosed up 0.10 percent over August’s level. Is it encouraging that this increase (both August and September numbers are still preliminary) marks the first stretch of three straight monthly rises since January (which capped a four-month streak)? Or is it discouraging that the rate of increase slowed from August’s 0.48 percent? Or that real wages are up cumulatively only 0.10 percent since January?
Ditto for the year-on-year trends, which are probably more reliable since they cover longer stretches of time. The new private sector constant-dollar wage level is 2.23 percent higher than the year-ago number – certainly not great by historical standards, but at least well ahead of living costs as they’re measured by the government. And from September, 2013 to September, 2014, real wages rose only 0.39 percent – so the latest figures show major progress. But in January, the year-on-year improvement was 2.43 percent. That looks like a slowdown. Further, since the current recovery technically began, in mid-2009, inflation-adjusted wages for the private sector is up only 2.33 percent. That’s over a more than six-year period!
The post Real Wages Keep Underwhelming appeared first on Silver For The People.
Source: http://silveristhenew.com/2015/10/18/real-wages-keep-underwhelming/
