Real Wages Falling Fast

[TexasTiger 13,005]

Real wages fall at fastest rate in 14 years

By Christopher Swann in Washington

Published: May 10 2005 17:59 | Last updated: May 10 2005 17:59

Real wages in the US are falling at their fastest rate in 14 years, according to data surveyed by the Financial Times.

Inflation rose 3.1 per cent in the year to March but salaries climbed just 2.4 per cent, according to the Employment Cost Index. In the final three months of 2004, real wages fell by 0.9 per cent.

The last time salaries fell this steeply was at the start of 1991, when real wages declined by 1.1 per cent.

Stingy pay rises mean many Americans will have to work longer hours to keep up with the cost of living, and they could ultimately undermine consumer spending and economic growth.

Many economists believe that in spite of the unexpectedly large rise in job creation of 274,000 in April, the uneven revival in the labour market since the 2001 recession has made it hard for workers to negotiate real improvements in living standards.

Even after last month's bumper gain in employment, there are 22,000 fewer private sector jobs than when the recession began in March 2001, a 0.02 per cent fall. At the same point in the recovery from the recession of the early 1990s, private sector employment was up 4.7 per cent.

“There is still little evidence that workers are gaining much traction in their negotiations,” said Paul Ashworth, US analyst at Capital Economics, the consultancy. “If this does not pick up, it raises the prospect of a sharper slowdown in consumer spending than we have been expecting.”

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f269a8f4-c173-11d...000e2511c8.html

[AURaptor 1,126]

Can't make the 'Worst economy in 50 years' nonsense stick, so they come up w/ this!

[TexasTiger 13,005]

Can't make the 'Worst economy in 50 years' nonsense stick, so they come up w/ this!

159346[/snapback]

"They" "come up" with this?

[TitanTiger 20,510]

Can't make the 'Worst economy in 50 years' nonsense stick, so they come up w/ this!

159346[/snapback]

While I'll agree that it's far from the "Worst Econony..." claptrap that was being bandied about during the election, this is not some made up phenomenon. It's the truth. I've personally experienced this recently and I'm hearing from a lot of other good conservative, hard-working folks who are dealing with the same things. The pay raises are skimpy compared to previous years, but meanwhile, their health care premiums (even under employer plans) have increased, gas prices are up which in turn causes a lot of things at the grocery store to tick upward (they have to pay for trucks to bring the stuff to them after all), and so on.

I like Bush, but his administration has got to get a handle on this in some way or another. People's patience is wearing thin.

[CCTAU 3,342]

Everybody's looking for the quick fix. There ain't one. At some time in most people's life, they have to "work" through the tough times. We are in one of those times. Now is the time to restructure our lives in a more economical way. Those who don't will whine and fail and blame it on the government. Those who do will be just like their ancestors and work hard to make it through the tough times. When times get tough, get tougher. None of us are guaranteed the "good life."

But I'm sure if we steal from the rich and disperse it, we will all feel better....

[TitanTiger 20,510]

Everybody's looking for the quick fix. There ain't one. At some time in most people's life, they have to "work" through the tough times. We are in one of those times. Now is the time to restructure our lives in a more economical way. Those who don't will whine and fail and blame it on the government.  Those who do will be just like their ancestors and work hard to make it through the tough times. When times get tough, get tougher. None of us are guaranteed the "good life."

But I'm sure if we steal from the rich and disperse it, we will all feel better....

159390[/snapback]

I don't recall anyone suggesting a quick fix or that we steal from anyone. I'm just stating the facts. Raptor kind of dismissively "pooh-poohed" the concern with how the economy is doing and I simply pointed out how I'm seeing this play out in reality.

Doesn't mean I don't scale back, cut costs, make some sacrifices, etc. But it is discouraging to be working harder than ever, get a raise, then see almost all of it gobbled up in health care premium increases, high costs of fuel, and other cost of living increases. I'm sure we'll make it, but that doesn't mean I can't point out problems when I see them.

Calling out certain portions of government that aren't performing up to the standards we expect of them is not necessarily whining, failing or blaming...it's simply expecting them to do what we elect them to do: lead. I'm doing my part. But I'm going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they do theirs, regardless of whether they have an "R", "D" or "I" after their name.

[Tiger Al 0]

Everybody's looking for the quick fix. There ain't one. At some time in most people's life, they have to "work" through the tough times. We are in one of those times. Now is the time to restructure our lives in a more economical way. Those who don't will whine and fail and blame it on the government.  Those who do will be just like their ancestors and work hard to make it through the tough times. When times get tough, get tougher. None of us are guaranteed the "good life."

But I'm sure if we steal from the rich and disperse it, we will all feel better....

159390[/snapback]

I don't recall anyone suggesting a quick fix or that we steal from anyone. I'm just stating the facts. Raptor kind of dismissively "pooh-poohed" the concern with how the economy is doing and I simply pointed out how I'm seeing this play out in reality.

Doesn't mean I don't scale back, cut costs, make some sacrifices, etc. But it is discouraging to be working harder than ever, get a raise, then see almost all of it gobbled up in health care premium increases, high costs of fuel, and other cost of living increases. I'm sure we'll make it, but that doesn't mean I can't point out problems when I see them.

Calling out certain portions of government that aren't performing up to the standards we expect of them is not necessarily whining, failing or blaming...it's simply expecting them to do what we elect them to do: lead. I'm doing my part. But I'm going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they do theirs, regardless of whether they have an "R", "D" or "I" after their name.

159399[/snapback]

I want to commend the "new, improved" TitanTiger.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Hmmm...CNN yesterday:

High Paying jobs making a comeback:

"Better times for better pay"

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/10/news/econo...ality/index.htm

And its very interesting that this other article is using inflation as the baromoter for how pay rates are hurting...well duh! I mean oil prices have gone up like 200% in 1.5 years. You REALLY think that the public and private sector companies can adjust their payroll fast enough to keep up with an energy cost that rise SO quickly? Hell until about 7-8 months ago, we didnt even know if the high oil prices were here to stay. I mean, if you go to your boss and say "i need a 3% pay raise because CPI has gone up 3%...and its directly tied to high oil prices"...what if the oil prices drop down to 30 bucks a barrel? Can your boss come in and say "uh, i need that 3% back"? no...

You cant blame it on the president. What is he supposed to do? Tell oil speculators they CANT trade over x amount of dollars per barrel? This is AMERICA. Thats capitalism.

The economy isnt hurting. That is evidenced by the consecutive fed rate hikes over the last two years. Open up your classifieds...you see a LOT more jobs...paying a LOT more money than two years ago. The job market is LIGHT YEARS ahead of 2002-2003.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Id like to add a major post script to this...

These numbers are also SERIOUSLY flawed because they compare the job market now, to the grossly over inflated job market RIGHT BEFORE the .com bust.

Oh no! we have ONLY 22k fewer private sector jobs available than we did during a time where THOUSANDS of 18-20 year olds were millionaires because they knew how to work a keyboard. COME ON! Thats a major accomplishment. Because the jobs now are founded on REAL earnings, REAL capital, and REAL work. So yeah...we have like 1% fewer jobs now than we did back in 2000 before the market corrected itself.

You have to be careful with this stuff...people always want to compare job numbers and salaries to a 5 year window in our history where the market was way out of whack.

[TitanTiger 20,510]

Look, I'm not trying to make any political points one way or the other here. And I'm not comparing the economy to what it was like during the dot.com bubble. All I'm saying is that the economy, while better than a couple of years ago, still isn't hitting on all cylinders by any stretch of the imagination. It's going in fits and starts.

It's not all on the President. Never has been whether it's credit during good times or blame during the bad. But they do have some responsibility. Policies do matter. If you don't think so, how would you like to have Jimmy Carter back in office? Didn't think so.

The bottom line is, my family and a lot of other families I know are struggling. Now, we're doing all we can to remedy that, including looking for other opportunities out there. But most opportunities with a significant improvement in the salary department don't come quickly or easily and in the mean time, things are tough. Like I said...I'm doing my part. I expect my elected representatives to do theirs.

[Auburn85 432]

Everybody's looking for the quick fix. There ain't one. At some time in most people's life, they have to "work" through the tough times. We are in one of those times. Now is the time to restructure our lives in a more economical way. Those who don't will whine and fail and blame it on the government.  Those who do will be just like their ancestors and work hard to make it through the tough times. When times get tough, get tougher. None of us are guaranteed the "good life."

But I'm sure if we steal from the rich and disperse it, we will all feel better....

159390[/snapback]

yep, everyone's looking for the quick fix. They think this trick should work at the gas pump too.

Also, wages won't go up if we keep hiring illegal aliens to work cheaper...and cheaper....and cheaper.....

Yet, at the same time Kennedy wants to raise the minim wage to $7 over a period of a few years.