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The Reason Why There Is No Wage Growth For 83% Of US Workers

Tyler Durden's picture




 

The most confounding aspect of the economy, and the one metric that has flashed a red light on Janet Yellen's "labor market dashboard" for years, is that wage growth has been completely non-existent, and roughly at half the Fed's targeted level of 3.5-4.0%.

What's worse, and what the Fed may not even realize is that while Yellen is looking at the average wage growth for the entire US population which has been flat as a pancake for the past 6 years, completely oblivious of how many trillions the Fed monetizes or what the stock market does...

 

... the wage reality for the vast majority of the US working population, or the 98 million non-supervisory workers which comprise 83% of total US private payrolls, is that their wages are not only not rising, or even flat, but for the past year have been declining at a rapid pace after hitting 2.5% in early 2014.

And as the purists will immediately point out, in inflation-adjusted terms there is no wage growth for more than 4 out of every 5 workers.

 

So for all who are still confused why there are no wage hikes despite the Fed's relentless efforts to micromanage the economy and stimulate wage growth via trickle-down record high stock market prices, the answer is that there is wage growth.

Just not for 83% of the working population. 

As the chart below shows, wages growth is not only present but has recently again surged to a near all time high level for the 17% of the US workforce that consists of supervisors, managers and various other bosses.

 

And so if the Fed really demands on micro-managing its centrally planned economy in which managers, supervisors, and CEOs are already benefiting massively courtesy of the record amount of stock buybacks they have unleashed, which have boosted not only their publicly traded stock price but their equity-linked compensation to record levels, it may want to make it clear that wage growth for supervisors will henceforth be prohibited.

Of course, tinkering like that with any and every aspect of the economy merely assures a total disaster at the end, but since said collapse has been largely assured for many years and is merely awaiting the bursting of the final central bank-blown bubble, why not experiment some more. It's not like it can hurt the terminally sick patient that is the US economy any more, and at best it may give the poorest workers something to look forward to. At least until it all comes crashing down.

 

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Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:27 | 6073387 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Because "there's an App for that"? 

Agenda 21

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:29 | 6073395 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Who are we kidding?

There's no wage growth, no economy, no market and no sense left at all.

Hit the big "Reset" button and get on with it..

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:18 | 6073416 AIIB
AIIB's picture

I'm pretty sure all the jew jobs are doing fine...

<<<--- political & media activism

- Government

- Tenured Education heirarchy

- MIC

- MIC contracting

- MSM

- Joogle

- Farcebook

- money counterfeitting heirarchy (FED, BIS, IMF)

- Jurisprudence (from the 'appointed' bench gigs, to the ambulance chasers & "bad drug" legal recovery from the law firm of Horowitz, Goldstein, & Weiss)

 

FFS ~ WHERE DID IT ALL GO?

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/activists-raised-dollar60000-for-tamir-...

 

Oh, here's where it all went... It went to KUCHARSKI & DAVID MALIK... More than half the donated funds went to pay the legal fees of the benevolent 'pro bono' lawyers (doing, of course, their civic duty to help the families), the rest is being held in escrow by a jew judge. 

 

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local/attorney-david-malik-steps...

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6073447 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

You have to be the right people to get ahead, for everybody else there's the new Obozo prole lifestyle....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WLzFhOslZPM

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6073486 astroloungers
astroloungers's picture

only animals and proles are free......

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 17:39 | 6074211 Ethelred the Unready
Ethelred the Unready's picture

Obamacare premiums are outrageous and being absorbed in part by the employer.  Do these "wages" include benefits?

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:32 | 6073396 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

There is no wage growth for workers due to globalization, automation, and a steady flow of immigration period. Wages won't rise until we catch down to the rest of the third world. Even then it won't matter because slaves are too expensive and robots don't bitch.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:40 | 6073425 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Exactly Doc.

The only question is if they can manage the rate of decline so the sheep don't remember

what life was like before.

There is no honor amogst psychopaths, so I expect they can't.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:42 | 6073577 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

There's actually a name for that in HR circles: "The Water-Level Wage Principle": Theirs go up, ours go down.

And, yes, networked iRobots are a "Game Changer". They become a WMD (Weapon of Mass Domination) over Sheeple, as a business model that's sustainable over multiple generations (of robots and sheeple alike).

Welcome to true Globalization, where the neo-Feudal Global Overlords rule, not nation-states.

The part that's difficult to model or predict, is what that future Ecosystem of humans and Robots will look like, given that the latter will have its own Classes/Types and Tiers: e.g. Workers, Companions, Cops/Soldiers. We'll probably live in some hybrid "Brave New 1984 World".

The part that sheeple and libertarians/Libertarians keep avoiding, is the World Population: Its growth profile, vis-a-vis dwindling Resources and Habitats, changing Climate, and increasing Pollutant Contamination of Planet due to 7+ billion sheeple, where 10-20% own almost all its wealth and are intent on keeping it that way.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 18:58 | 6074442 essence
essence's picture

"Difficult to Model or predict" ?   Nah, just go watch Bladerunner again.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:40 | 6073612 Rikky
Rikky's picture

spot on Doc the big push starting in the 80's by our political masters was if we contribute to making poorer countries wealthier than all boats rise.  what they neglected to mention was this was an either/or proposition so the 3rd world got richer while we got poorer until the equilibrium in labor costs is attained.  this model is not sustainable anymore as the USA has a tax/cost structure that cannot be supported no matter the amount of debt generated to fill the gap of the loss of wealth by its citizens.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:07 | 6073718 Icelandicsaga.....
Icelandicsaga...............................................'s picture

Paul Volker, 1979: "The standard of living of the average American has to decline."

"I don't think you can escape that."

"Volcker Asserts U.S. Must Trim Living Standard," New York times, October 18, 1979, p. 1.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:15 | 6073748 Icelandicsaga.....
Icelandicsaga...............................................'s picture

Wages have been stagnant since 1979 .. in that era they also passed banking act . think it was Monetary Reform Act . bascially set in motion financialization of the US economic model .. to the pile of CRAP we have today.    Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 Remarks on Signing H.R. 4986 Into Law.
March 31, 1980  Jimmy Carter .. Paul Volcker overlooking for David Rockefeller and company. Must read by the late Joan Veon .. on how 'harmonized' monetary system is accomplished.... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/689353/posts     
At the core of the trumped up credit crunch were a handful of international bankers that helped create a big enough deception which will ultimately lead to Congress exchanging our national regulatory laws for standardized international regulatory laws. Sadly, I have seen the pattern of creating a problem so you can solve it according to your hidden agenda, over and over again in the 27 years I have spent in the investment business. For those who think it is about a new low in the value of the dollar, they are wrong—the dollar has been dropping ever since the twin 1973 currency crises which sent then Assistant Treasury Secretary for International Monetary Affairs Paul Volcker around the world to hammer out a new regime for floating currencies (what a great way to transfer wealth and control countries: currencies). Every time the dollar drops, it is new and historic. For those who think the past two months was about the Rothschild’s cornering the global gold market, no way. They and the same core of international bankers that own the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, and other major central banks control the value of gold. When central banks sell gold as they did in the late 90s, it is only title that changes, not the owner   2oo7       http://www.newswithviews.com/Veon/joan49.htm

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 16:57 | 6074095 crisrose
crisrose's picture

Americans voted for it too!  And continue to vote for it.  Gotta love it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkgx1C_S6ls

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:31 | 6073397 NoVa
NoVa's picture

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

 

Napolean the Pig,  Animal Farm

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:31 | 6073399 pods
pods's picture

Shit like this happens in a depression.

The sooner we come to grips with it, the sooner we start boiling rope for those who pour honey in our ears and lube on our backsides.

pods

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:32 | 6073405 chunga
chunga's picture

I'll take minimum wage to add insult to injury alex

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:35 | 6073412 Kaiser Sousa
Kaiser Sousa's picture

who cares about wage growth or job growth....

THE DOW IS UP ALMOST 300 PONTS....

yeah, baby - we winnin'....................

 

fucking joke.

 

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:39 | 6073420 bugsmashers
bugsmashers's picture

QE4 will need to be Bush-style, checks to everyone.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:39 | 6073424 order66
order66's picture

"Darrell Issa".

 

Drink.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:43 | 6073432 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

I see that many 'survival' outfits still have freeze dried storables in stock - might be a good time to check your list and 'stack' another few #10 cans...   When the distribution-chain disrupt happens (guaranteed), it'll be nice to sit down to a non-disrupted meal.

 

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:52 | 6073462 pods
Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:43 | 6073860 gimme soma dat
gimme soma dat's picture

Why are you saying this here?  Other than the obvious.  

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:44 | 6073434 Goldbugger
Goldbugger's picture

The only way to get wage growth is quick your job and get another one.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:45 | 6073438 Creepy A. Cracker
Creepy A. Cracker's picture

Do government employees count as workers or are they anti-workers, cancelling out two workers from the total for every government employee?  Each IRS employee equates to negative 37 workers.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6073443 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

YOU HAVE GOT TO ADJUST THESE FRED CHARTS BY SOME KIND OF INFLATION FACTOR cuz it doesn't look like Fred is doing it himself.

And it would be good to further adjust by peeling off the top 1%, the supervisory doesn't really do a good job of that.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6073444 all-priced-in
all-priced-in's picture

If

Wages = amount people take home in their paycheck

and

Compensation = total cost that a company must spend to have an employee at work 

 

I will bet you that even if total wages have not gone up significantly for the non-supervisory employees

 

That the total compensation has gone up faster than inflation.

 

It is the benefits - stuff like health care - unemployment insurance  - compliance cost of all the new government mandated BS  that is increasing.

 

Stop mandating higher non wage costs onto companies and they will be able to give people a larger raise.

 

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:34 | 6073591 lordylord
lordylord's picture

No joke, if you leave out all the benefits, a full-time worker would probably take home 20k more.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:01 | 6073688 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

Economics aside of course (you know..supply and demand).

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:40 | 6073611 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

"Stop mandating higher non wage costs onto companies and they will be able to give people a larger raise."

 

Everyone knows American corporations run their organizations like charities. /sarcasm.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:46 | 6073445 heisenberg991
heisenberg991's picture

But McDonalds just gave everybody a huge raise. That alone should lift the economy.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:53 | 6073467 BeerMe
BeerMe's picture

This is pretty easy.  You won't & can't expect wage growth with 0% interest rates.  Actual wage growth will only come with reasonable interest rates.  0% isn't reasonable.  The 2nd factor is too much debt; which companies are fine with as long as interest rates remain at zero or low.  Since growth comes from stocks these days labor is only mildly necessary.

These clowns should hang.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:06 | 6073521 AIIB
AIIB's picture

I just upvoted your username

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:43 | 6073618 SDShack
SDShack's picture

Actually, too much debt is the only factor, and why we must have ZIRP to infinity and beyond. It's the only way TPTB can keep the Ponzi going. If it fails, the sheeple will literally be starving in the streets and that will require the implementation of the Total Security State. Think Ferguson and Baltimore X millions.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:54 | 6073469 adr
adr's picture

Here's another reason why more wages and good jobs will go POOF.

This is a BIG DEAL. A REALLY BIG FRICKIN DEAL.

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/05/08/gearheads-push-preserve-right-work-on...

Essentially GM is arguing that the software code that runs on the computers in a car is their property and therefore it should be illegal for any mechanic or person not directly employed by GM to work on or modify a car. If a mechanic wishes to work on a car they would have to purchase the right to "modify" the car from GM.

GM actually makes the case, like Apple, that a car isn't the property of the person who buys the car but the manufacturer who made it. You are essentially leasing the car even if you bought it. There would be no ownership rights at all.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT.

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:14 | 6073541 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

Make it a SAFETY and SECURITY issue and have the regulators do the rest.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:36 | 6073595 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

Serves people right for buying GM cars.

 

'I'll take that bailout, lay off a ton of autoworkers, and build cars in China.'

 

Fuck GM.

Thu, 05/14/2015 - 10:46 | 6093042 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

They have a set of brass ones, don't they?

The copyright protections only exist if you're selling the modified product. You absolutely have the right to modify for your own personal useage. GM can go fuck itself, and I don't care WHAT their bought-off pet judges and lawyers might say.

In fact, it gives me the urge to buy a GM car and modify it right in their face...post pics of the finished product and brag about it.

The urge passes quickly though...'buy a GM car' indeed...LOL!

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 13:58 | 6073485 ussa
ussa's picture

Would say that trade agreements have crushed manufacturing workers and the associated jobs supporting the sector.   Being jammed for nearly 20% of GDP for healthcare costs and skyrocketing education fees doesn't help.   Spending money on nonproductive military activities (ie an F-35 that couldn't beat an old school Mig) instead of public and private investment in R&D, infrastructure and education has lowered returns for trhe economy, too.

TPTB know this and are pure sociopaths (all Fed chairpersons included).

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:41 | 6073615 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

The F-35 is a bigger failure than the Obama stimulus package.

Give Lockheed Martin another trillion and see if they can meet expectations.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:00 | 6073494 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

This issue is too politicized to be resolved anymore. We are too late, that train has left the station.

In my opinion, for what it's worth, the reason wages have fallen so far behind is simply this...Labor is still being paid by the hour.

In the past, the hourly wage worked because there was a certain natural limit to how PRODUCTIVE a man could be in an hour's time. The hourly wage could therefore stay fairly close to the productive output.

Keep in mind that the owner/manager class recieves its compensation form the total PRODUCTIVITY of the concern, while labor is compensated by the negotiated fee for an hour's time working at the concern.

In this age of technology, the natural limit on a man's productivity has been removed. But that same technology has NOT given labor any more minutes to his hour. Labor remains shackled by its inability to sell any more than 60 minutes per hour.

The owner/managers have pocketed the ENTIRE increase in productivity, over many years time. Of COURSE they made out like bandits.

The problem is we are still using 19th century formulas for 21st century problems. And "fixing" it by throwing stupid solutions like minimum wages at it only make it worse, because it attempts to alleviate one of the symptoms without addressing the disease itself.

Another thing that doesn't work is Calvinist pontificating over labors obligation to do whatever it's told, and take whatever is offered as wages, and STFU because...free markets.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:29 | 6073575 rejected
rejected's picture

Wages have fallen behind because it doesn't take a lot of skill to flip a burger, stand outside a mall store looking like a idiot, jumping up and down on a sidewalk in your statue of liberty suit selling tax preparation.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:39 | 6073608 lordylord
lordylord's picture

You must be a selfish, ignorant, racist republican.  Of course flipping a hamburger is worth $15/hr 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:43 | 6073617 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

It's a relative to the buying power of the dollar as well.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 17:47 | 6074242 sunnyside
sunnyside's picture

I see those guys outside the tax prep offices, and think, "Someone has made a lot of bad decisions in their life to be doing that."

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:06 | 6073520 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Printed money, fiat, is theft.
"QE" is printed money.
Fewer, and fewer economic opportunities, along with price-inflation, are the result of the banksters' thefts via "QE."

Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.

 

Guillotine the Fed. Audit the heads.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:25 | 6073565 rejected
rejected's picture

Today's management is definitely the gig of the century thus far. At least for the corporate I slave for.

Stay at home in recliner, have teleconference meetings with the pleb workers, Chastise / punish / terminate a pleb for not making his 'numbers', run a small business on the side.

$85,000 a year plus 10-20 thousand in bonuses for letting the infrastructure rot and laying off plebs.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:44 | 6073621 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

Who the fuck downvoted this?

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 17:49 | 6074247 sunnyside
sunnyside's picture

rejected's team leader (sitting at home surfing porn on another tab)

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 14:33 | 6073586 PrimalScream
PrimalScream's picture

The comments above are dead on - THIS TRAIN has left the station.

It is NO surprise to anyone that the ONLY people who are making big money from low interest rates from the Fed - are the FINANCIAL sector.  and this sector is NOT making investments in real productive industry in the USA.  Not much, anyway.  The financial sector is characterized by very short-term investment goals ... a few weeks or a few months.  The type of investment that is needed for America requires investment horizons that last for decades.  That simply does not exist in the mindset of the banking and financial structure today.

To put in BLUNTLY, our "leadership" in finance and banking today is interested in short-term GREED.  And our politicians run all of their decisions based on Crisis Management.

You just cannot run a superpower in this fashion.  If there is no long-term thinking, and there is no commitment to long-term real investment in America, then our LONG-TERM FUTURE is a piece of burned toast!!!

 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:01 | 6073691 Kreditanstalt
Kreditanstalt's picture

The New Rich are not only the .01%.

 

They're your neighbours making $60,000+/year...technicians, managers, government employees, loggers, oil and gas industry...you know, the ones who never suffered at all during The Great Recession?  The ones with all the boats and toys?

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:02 | 6073696 Mike Honcho
Mike Honcho's picture

I've seen it in my past and current co.'s.  Consolidation, bring in auditors to thin the herd.  Even when people quit, managers alike, they just disperse the workloads and employees to pick up the slack.  No promotions or wage increase, just the opportunity to be in a seat. 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:13 | 6073741 Seek_Truth
Seek_Truth's picture

Indeed, but how many hats can one employee wear?

And on top of that- there shall be no decrease in overall productivity.

Let them make bricks without straw!

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:14 | 6073746 starman
starman's picture

Anything is possible in socialism! 

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 15:43 | 6073849 Lone_Star
Lone_Star's picture

Those union employees on the docks, in the schools, etc. can't all be supervisory employees, yet they for damn sure have been getting raises.

It's just no one with a real job that doesn't squeeze the end consumer.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 16:39 | 6074041 Seek_Truth
Seek_Truth's picture

A "squeezed" consumer?

Heaven forbid!

Perhaps you should make things yourself, or provide your services for yourself.

Egads, the horror!

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 16:01 | 6073912 A is A
A is A's picture

Maybe Zappo's plan isn't as dumb as people think...

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 16:03 | 6073918 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

You might find this interesting.

Here's the link to the whole thing: https://www.allianzlife.com/retirement-and-planning-tools/generations-ap...

Boomers and Gen Xers agree there is a retirement crisis – but there are generational differences in how they’re responding.

An overwhelming number of boomers and Gen Xers agree there is a retirement crisis (84% and 92%, respectively), and both groups reported being heavily impacted by the 2008 crash. And although both groups see themselves as being hit harder by the recession, both generations agree that it’s been much harder for Gen Xers to keep a job or plan for retirement.

Although these results may be disheartening, the good news is that both generations do believe it’s critically important for them to build their financial security in retirement (94% of Gen Xers and 95% of boomers).

Major study findings
  1. Romantic fantasy of the past – 82% of boomers and Generation Xers agree that a traditional retirement is a romantic fantasy of the past. More than eight in 10 (84%) from both generations said they feel that a retirement starting at age 65 spent “doing exactly what you want” is now unrealistic.
  2. Disadvantaged Gen Xers – Gen X respondents were much more hopeless about their ability to achieve retirement goals and about their overall financial situation than were their boomer counterparts. Although each generation feels their circumstances have been tougher to manage, Gen X respondents indicated stronger feelings about the extent to which they feel burdened and disadvantaged by their reality. More than two thirds (67%) of Gen Xers agreed with the idea that supposed targets for how much you need to retire are way out of reach versus less than half of boomers (49%).
  3. Warped reality – Despite clear concerns about their financial situations and prospect for a comfortable retirement, both generations are surprisingly relaxed about planning for their financial futures. An astounding percentage of boomers (65%) and Gen Xers (53%) said they "just have this feeling that everything’s going to work out."
Fri, 05/08/2015 - 16:37 | 6074038 carlnpa
carlnpa's picture

Is this a trick question?

H1B is destroying the STEMs workers.

40 Million illegals is destroying wage growth on the bottom end.

Fuck this whole fucking joke of a fucked up system.

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 21:23 | 6074795 monad
monad's picture

The reason is... DAVID ROCKEFELLER's big fat ego

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!