The average worker isn't seeing Trump's "economic miracle." Here's why.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

You may have heard President Donald Trump say that the US economy is booming right now.

That’s an exaggeration, but the economy is definitely growing, as the latest economic indicators show.

But why doesn’t it feel like the economy is growing? The answer is pretty simple: Because economic growth is not really benefitting the average American worker.

The chart below says it all. The red line shows that overall wages are growing faster than they have in a long time — about 3 percent per year. That’s great, right? Not really. Look at the blue line. That’s the actual wage growth when you factor in inflation and cost of living (based on the Consumer Price Index).

Real wages only grew 1.9 percent in 2018.



https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-average-worker-isnt-seeing-trumps-economic-miracle-heres-why/ar-BBUgH0S?li=BBnbfcN

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Thanks for posting. I wonder what this comparison of avg wages per American worker ...

line charted above is replaced by the avg. wage per billionaires and/or millionaires (all income too) instead. It'll reveal I suspect a massive discrepancy in their earnings vs. ours.

Thanks for posting again. I suspect a lot of us already knew the above. Seems like everyday a new barrier to keeping our heads above the water comes up.

[smirkymonkey]

2. K&R

and bookmarked!

[Yavin4]

3. My hypothesis for the sluggish wage growth is that the definition of "employed" does not carry

the same meaning as it once did. Decades ago, when the UE rate went down that mostly meant that full time jobs (mostly with benefits) were being created. Today, when the UE rates declines, it's almost meaningless because the new "Jobs" that are being created do not pay cost of living wages nor offer benefits nor are full time.

Unusual work schedules and gig jobs will show people as employed, but these kinds of jobs do not come with any wage power or impact. IOW, jobs and wages are de-coupled. We can create jobs without having any positive impact on wage growth.

[Yavin4]

5. Um...that day is here.

The average American worker is the most productive in history, but their wages are stagnant. Most of the wage growth has gone into the pockets of the shareholders.

[D_Master81]

7. Yeah but

I believe the average worker fears recessions and losing their job so even if their wages arent increasing, they are just happy to have a job. Inflation is a slow process so people dont even realize it exists until they look 1 day and something is 20% more than it used to be and their pay has gone up a quarter an hr.