Sunday, October 09, 2005

Econ 101, Again

The not-so-good news:

The purchasing power of weekly wages fell -0.2% in July, -0.5% down yr/yr and down -0.9% from July 2002. Real wages for service providing workers are -0.7% below July 2002 levels and manufacturing workers' wages are -0.9% lower than in July 1999. These wage data cover 81% of the private sector workforce.

Peak manufacturing wages spiked in 1979 and have fallen off since.

In addition:

The Census reports that real median household incomes fell again in 2004 for the fifth consecutive year. Purchasing power of incomes also fell for full-time wage-earners. (Same source URL)

Those who have not read Sun-Tzu continue to whistle past this little graveyard.

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