Re: Wages Up by Smallest Amount in Nine Years


"Sue" <susanhofftman@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1138725782.794685.12710@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I already posted that the highest inflation corrected average hourly
> incomes occurred
> in the early 1970s. They are now currently dropping from their levels
> earlier in 2005. The BLS publishes 1982 inflation corrected figures,
> these
> were over $9 an hour in the 1970s and around $8 now. That is 30 years
> of down hill
> "progress" in the wages of the average hourly employed person.
>
> Private employers are moving out of both the health insurance and
> pensions, so
> these costs for them are dropping. Globally, health care costs
> currently stand
> over 15% of the GDP, at their highest historical level. They are
> projected to
> move even higher in the next few years. And over 40 million remain
> uncovered by insurance.
>
> This is not a rosy picture.

No, there are definitely negatives. However, mortgage rates have remained
low, home ownership is at an all time high, inflation is well under control,
unemployment is low, and certain significant market segments (such as Small
Cap stocks, measured by the Russell 2000) are at their all time high
(especially good, because it means that the small company sector is
experiencing good growth.)

Every economic scenario, at a given point in time, contains a set of
positives and negatives. It's essential to not pull out individual
statistics from their larger context when analyzing the state of the
economy.

Mike


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