As usual, when the economy starts to pick up, workers feel it last and least. (And when it goes down they feel it first and strongest) Immigrant workers, affirmative action, etc. are not the problem. When are working and middle class Americans going to figure out who really is to blame for their economic woes? It's corporate America and the government--which cow-tows to it. Fox news, Trump, and white nationalists notwithstanding, those of the real culprits. Wake up American workers. Don't let Fox and Trump distract you fool you and hide the real source of your woe.
"Corporate profits have rarely swept up a bigger share of the nation’s wealth, and workers have rarely shared a smaller one.
The lopsided split is especially pronounced given how low the official unemployment rate has sunk. Throughout the recession and much of its aftermath, when many Americans were grateful to receive a paycheck instead of a pink slip, jobs and raises were in short supply. Now, complaints of labor shortages are as common as tweets. For the first time in a long while, workers have some leverage to push for more.
Yet many are far from making up all the lost ground. Hourly earnings have moved forward at a crawl, with higher prices giving workers less buying power than they had last summer. Last-minute scheduling, no-poaching and noncompete clauses, and the use of independent contractors are popular tactics that put workers at a disadvantage. Threats to move operations overseas, where labor is cheaper, continue to loom.
And in the background, the nation’s central bankers stand poised to raise interest rates and deliberately rein in growth if wages climb too rapidly.
Workers, understandably, are asking whether they are getting a raw deal.
“Sure, you can get a job slinging hamburgers somewhere or working in a warehouse,” said Christina Jones, 53, of Mobile, Ala. Ms. Jones spent eight months searching for a job with living wages and benefits, after being laid off from a paper company where she had worked for nearly 13 years. Dozens of interviews later, she landed work last month at a concrete crushing company as an accounts payable clerk for $14 an hour — two-thirds her previous salary.
“You hear, ‘Oh, the unemployment rate is as low as it’s ever been,’” Ms. Jones said, but “it was discouraging.”
Businesses have been more successful at regaining losses from the downturn. Since the recession ended in 2009, corporate profits have grown at an annualized rate of 6.5 percent. Several sectors have done much better. On Friday, for example, banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup reported outsize double-digit earnings in the second quarter.
Yearly wage growth has yet to hit 3 percent. And when it does, the Federal Reserve — which has a mandate to keep inflation under control even as it is supposed to maximize employment — can be expected to tap the brakes.
Labor’s Declining Share
Workers’ paychecks account for much less of the nation’s total income since the last recession, and the profits of businesses account for more.
Employee pay as a share of national income
68
%
67
66
65
64
63
RECESSIONS
62
61
60
1970
’80
’90
2000
’10
’18
Corporate profits as a share of national income
%
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
1970
’80
’90
2000
’10
’18
As Fed policymakers have explained, allowing the economy to run too hot “could lead eventually to a significant economic downturn.” And persistent wage increases.
The buying power of all workers has been in decline since the early 1970s.
ReplyDeleteContributory have been fiscal policies of Congress, monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Bank and the industrialization of once-undeveloped countries.
Been obvious for decades. Unfortunately, memories are short and few pay attention, anyway.
Art