Someone is getting a raise. It just isn't you

As is usual, the headline economic number is always the rosiest number.

Wages for production and nonsupervisory workers accelerated to a 3.4 percent annual pace, signaling gains for lower-paid employees.

That sounds pretty good. Except for the part where it is a lie.
For starters, it doesn't account for inflation.

Labor Department numbers released Wednesday show that real average hourly earnings, which compare the nominal rise in wages with the cost of living, rose 1.7 percent in January on a year-over-year basis.

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1.7% is a lot less than 3.4%.
While the financial news was bullish, the actual professionals took the news differently.

Wage inflation was also muted with average hourly earnings rising six cents, or 0.2% in April after rising by the same margin in March.
Average hourly earnings "were disappointing,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.

Secondly, 1.7% is an average, not a median.
For instance, none of this applied to you if you are an older worker.

Weekly earnings for workers aged 55 to 64 were only 0.8% higher in the first quarter of 2019 than they were in the first quarter of 2007, after accounting for inflation, they found.
For comparison, earnings rose 4.7% during that same period for workers between the ages of 35 and 54.

On the other hand, if you worked for a bank your wages went up at a rate far above average. This goes double if you are in management.

Among the biggest standouts: commercial banks, which employ an estimated 1.3 million people in the U.S. Since Trump took office in January 2017, they have increased their average hourly wage at an annualized pace of almost 11 percent, compared with just 3.3 percent under Obama.

Finally, there is the reason for this incredibly small wage increase fo regular workers.
Hint: it wasn't because of capitalism and all the bullsh*t jobs it creates.
The tiny wage increase that the working class has seen is because of what the capitalists said was a terrible idea.

For Americans living in the 21 states where the federal minimum wage is binding, inflation means that the minimum wage has lost 16 percent of its purchasing power.

But elsewhere, many workers and employers are experiencing a minimum wage well above 2009 levels. That’s because state capitols and, to an unprecedented degree, city halls have become far more active in setting their own minimum wages.
...
Averaging across all of these federal, state and local minimum wage laws, the effective minimum wage in the United States — the average minimum wage binding each hour of minimum wage work — will be $11.80 an hour in 2019. Adjusted for inflation, this is probably the highest minimum wage in American history.
The effective minimum wage has not only outpaced inflation in recent years, but it has also grown faster than typical wages. We can see this from the Kaitz index, which compares the minimum wage with median overall wages.

So if you are waiting for capitalism to trickle down on you, it's never going to happen.

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Lol

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

grok buying power. Especially the ones who pay the household bills.

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totally against socialism. No free tuition and omg no medicare for all. Nothing against Bernie, of course. Socialism!! Nothing to be gained by a massive transfer of wealth, it's un American!

YOU FUCKING MAROON THERE'S BEEN A MASSIVE TRANSFER OF WEALTH GOING ON FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS! FROM US TO THE 1%!!!

If this guy is in the running I'm investing in companies that make replacement tv screens.

This has been a public service announcement.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@Snode

Just saw Hinkenlooper on the tv

totally against socialism. No free tuition and omg no medicare for all. Nothing against Bernie, of course. Socialism!! Nothing to be gained by a massive transfer of wealth, it's un American!

YOU FUCKING MAROON THERE'S BEEN A MASSIVE TRANSFER OF WEALTH GOING ON FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS! FROM US TO THE 1%!!!

Welcome to my little slice of Colorado hell......

He opposed cannabis legalization, too.

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides but it's that sleazy sideways look and shit eating grin that kills me.

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Carolinas

Thousands of South Carolina teachers rallied outside their state capitol Wednesday, demanding pay raises, more planning time, increased school funding -- and, in a twist, more legal protections for their freedom of speech
SC for Ed, the grassroots activist group that organized Wednesday’s demonstration, told CNN that many teachers fear protesting or speaking up about education issues, worrying they’ll face retaliation at work. Saani Perry, a teacher in Fort Mill, S.C., told CNN that people in his profession are “expected to sit in the classroom and stay quiet and not speak [their] mind.”

To address these concerns, SC for Ed is lobbying for the Teachers’ Freedom of Speech Act, which was introduced earlier this year in the state House of Representatives. The bill would specify that "a public school district may not willfully transfer, terminate or fail to renew the contract of a teacher because the teacher has publicly or privately supported a public policy decision of any kind." If that happens, teachers would be able to sue for three times their salary.

Teachers across the country are raising similar concerns about retaliation. Such fears aren't unfounded: Lawmakers in some states that saw strikes last year have introduced bills this year that would punish educators for skipping school to protest.

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@gjohnsit A lot of HR depts troll employee social media looking for wrongthink.

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Centaurea's picture

So if you are waiting for capitalism to trickle down on you, it's never going to happen.

Seems like the 99% is finally waking up to the fact that the yellow in the snow ain't gold.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Centaurea

Oh, it's been trickling, all right

So if you are waiting for capitalism to trickle down on you, it's never going to happen.

Seems like the 99% is finally waking up to the fact that the yellow in the snow ain't gold.

And the yellow stream's no trickle, but a torrent!

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides