One of the reasons we hope that the economy will be in good shape is that incomes tend to rise during periods of expansion. But despite ongoing gains in hiring, an unemployment rate that has dipped to five point one percent nationally and other indications of improvement, take home pay for many workers has declined in real terms since the economic recovery began in two thousand and nine -- this according to the National Employment Law Project.
Their study indicates that once inflation is considered, median wages across all occupations declined four percent between two thousand and nine and twenty fourteen. As pointed out by writer Nelson Schwartz, one explanation for this may lie in another study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute.
That report indicates that even as labor productivity has improved steadily since two thousand, the benefits of improved efficiency have nearly all inured to companies, shareholders and top executives rather than to rank-and-file employees. Remarkably, wage declines in low paying occupations were much worse, falling nine percent for restaurant cooks and six percent for home health aides.
