and is a freakin' shill from this corrupt maladministration.
:argh:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1385107Higher Prices, Stagnant Wages Produce Pay Cut for U.S. Workers -LAT For the first time in 14 years, the American work force has in effect gotten an across-the-board pay cut.
The growth in wages in 2004 and the first two months of this year trailed the growth in prices, compounding the squeeze from higher housing, energy and other costs.
....
"There's no such thing as raises anymore," Romero said. This is the first time that salaries have increased more slowly than inflation since the 1990-91 recession. While salary growth has been relatively sluggish since the 2001 downturn, inflation had stayed relatively subdued until last year, when the consumer price index rose 2.7 percent. But average hourly wages rose only 2.5 percent.
The effective 0.2-percentage-point erosion in workers' living standards occurred while the economy expanded at a healthy 4 percent, better than the 3 percent historical average.
At the same time, corporate profits hit record highs as companies got more productivity out of workers while keeping pay raises down.
.....MORE......http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wages11apr11,0,5092199.story?coll=la-home-headlines