Let's See, 8 Cents a Month Comes Out to, Hmm, I Get Diddleysquat for a Year
According to recent figures, the average pay increase for Americans last year would not finance a single trip to a 99 Cent store. Good thing Bush Co. clearly has made the pie higher. The Christian Science Monitor reports:
For all its strength, the current economic expansion is not boosting the American worker's paycheck.
Wages have been rising nominally: Average pay rose 8 cents last month to $16.27 an hour, according to a government report Friday. That's not fast enough to counter inflation.
It's not fast enough to give you even an extra dollar a year. Good thing the price of essentials like heating oil and housing is so cheap. The news gets even worse for the people who least can afford bad news.
Economists say that while the pay pinch affects a wide swath of occupations, the impact is hardest on those without college degrees.
"It's two different worlds," skilled and unskilled, says John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. "There's no way you can consider this one overall labor market."
Well-trained job seekers are in hot demand, he says. But the labor market is weak for those whose education ended in high school. In some cases, "weak" is an understatement.
Of course, Bush Co. don't really know any of those people, let alone get campaign donations from them, or dine with them at the fish and goose soiree.
Rumor has it VP Dick Cheney will soon announce that the poor economy is in its last throes.
For all its strength, the current economic expansion is not boosting the American worker's paycheck.
Wages have been rising nominally: Average pay rose 8 cents last month to $16.27 an hour, according to a government report Friday. That's not fast enough to counter inflation.
It's not fast enough to give you even an extra dollar a year. Good thing the price of essentials like heating oil and housing is so cheap. The news gets even worse for the people who least can afford bad news.
Economists say that while the pay pinch affects a wide swath of occupations, the impact is hardest on those without college degrees.
"It's two different worlds," skilled and unskilled, says John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C. "There's no way you can consider this one overall labor market."
Well-trained job seekers are in hot demand, he says. But the labor market is weak for those whose education ended in high school. In some cases, "weak" is an understatement.
Of course, Bush Co. don't really know any of those people, let alone get campaign donations from them, or dine with them at the fish and goose soiree.
Rumor has it VP Dick Cheney will soon announce that the poor economy is in its last throes.
posted by George at 11:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home