image from thinkprogress.org
On the front cover of USA Today is the shameful proclamation: “Worker pay is flat even as stocks and corporate profits set new records.” Wage increases will strengthen the overall economy by leaps and bounds, as the article below lays out. But we can’t sit by and expect corporations and the wealthiest who are getting more wealthy each day to do the right thing for hard-working Americans and the economy as a whole…we must demand a fair minimum wage that grows with inflation consistently, and we will see all wages go up to a more fair amount. President Obama has called for this – Democrats are behind it…even some moderate Republicans. So why aren’t we seeing change? The same reason why the sequester cuts are still in place, the same reason we don’t have background checks, and the list goes on…far Right Republicans, who make up the majority now of the party and are obstructionists to progress.
Profits don’t flow through to wages
Stock markets and corporate profits are breaking records. The economy suddenly looks brighter after the government’s surprising report Friday that employers added 635,000 jobs the past three months.
But instead of celebrating, many working Americans are borrowing a line from the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money.”
Hourly wages ticked up 4 cents in April to an average $23.87, rising at about the same tepid 2% annual pace since the recovery began in mid-2009.
But taking inflation into account, they’re virtually flat. Workers who rely on paychecks for their income have been running in place, financially speaking. Adjusting for inflation, an average worker who was paid $49,650 at the end of 2009 is making about $545 less now — and that’s before taxes and deductions.
Stagnant wages aren’t only tough on workers — the American economy is paying a price, too. Living standards aren’t rising. Consumer spending, which is 70% of the economy, is more restrained. And the recovery advances at a slower pace.
Read the full article here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/05/wages-job-growth/2134207/
