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New data show much faster growth in wages and incomes.
Wages and salary figures have been going up faster than previously estimated, with the year-over-year increase revised from 3.6% to 5.5%. Even after adjusting for inflation, that is 4.1%.
Overall personal income is up, transfer receipts (welfare) are down, and savings is up. Americans are relying less on the government and saving more of what they earn. Personal savings is 8.1%, not the 6.1% that had been estimated. Consumer spending is up despite the increase in savings. The fact that spending isn't accompanied by a household debt increase makes the economic expansion more durable.
The numbers for the first quarter of 2019 look particularly good for reducing income inequality. Corporate profits declined while wages grew at an annualized rate of 10.1%.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @10:53AM (14 children)
Again? Do I need to put it in my sig or something? Fine, here [epi.org].
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @11:15AM (9 children)
Wage != income. Those stats you linked exclude medium and large business owners. Basically, they're saying the middle and upper class are making less money while the lower class are doing better. But they say nothing about the 1% who actually owns everything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @11:55AM (1 child)
From TFA.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @01:25AM
Corporate profits are down because they are doing stock buy-backs at record rates. Stock buybacks increase their stock value, P/E ratio, and other figures at the expense of employee stock option plans.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @11:58AM (4 children)
Are you fucking stupid?
Yes, I guess you are. Those stats include everyone except the top five percent of wage earners. Wage earners means employees. Owners of pretty much all publicly traded companies and most privately owned companies do not draw a wage unless they are also performing a job.
Ahhh, you're that flavor of moron. Roger. We're done here. You're too hopeless to waste keystrokes on.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Friday August 02 2019, @09:16PM (2 children)
The media has done much to build and foster a narrative in which the right and the left just can't get along. They make strawmen of one side, and invite the other side to beat them up and burn them down. When you join in the name calling, you play into this.
I'm not crazy about another fake left corporate Democrat national government. But damn, the right has dived deep into the trolling. Neo-Confederates and Neo-Nazis are "very fine people", WTF? Do we want a WWII and American Civil War rematch? It's pretty clear that the gun nuts feel they'd have the advantage in a shooting match. The media doesn't have to construct strawmen for the right These days, when the right does have a valid point, it is most righteously viewed with skepticism, suspicion and distrust. They've lied outrageously so often now, it should be a reflex to not believe anything they say.
But I also know that a lot of poor people are idiots with money. The US must look real whiny and entitled next to the really impoverished peoples of the rest of the world. However that may be, it doesn't excuse the cheating and robbery that so many of the rich do with impunity-- not paying their employees, looting the pension funds, and cashing in hugely on insider trading deals.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @09:51PM
Question, are you looking to paint the other 99+% of rich folks with that same brush or were you only speaking of the actual criminals?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @02:10AM
You say "They make strawmen of one side"
Trump did not say that Neo-Confederates and Neo-Nazis are "very fine people".
Listen to enough of his speech for context, and you'll see. It's just a couple sentences more than the typical sound bite. Listen, and you'll see, unless you are only interested in making a strawman.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @11:13PM
As George Orwell noted after fighting a war supporting communists in Spain, the overwhelming majority of socialists don't love the poor, they hate the rich. It is jealousy that they aren't the dictators, not compassion for the downtrodden.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday August 02 2019, @12:04PM (1 child)
You're also ignoring benefits. Back at you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @01:29AM
Be sure to record your face when you open your first paycheck. The look on your face will be priceless when you try to figure out why hours worked * hourly wage != check amount.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday August 02 2019, @03:02PM
Thanks for that source. It showed that from the 10th-80th percentile that from 2000-2018 the highest percentage gain was 12% and the midline was around 5%. Meantime between 2000 and 2016 the differences in annual average inflation (source [bls.gov]) showed a 39.53% increase. The 2007-2018 sourcing was even more pathetic. Funny how that span covers both parties.
Meantime as WSJ said, from current data ( https://beta.bls.gov/dataViewer/view [bls.gov] ) and not seasonally adjusted, between January 2017 and May of 2019 CPI-U has increased 6.18% against a backdrop of 10% income growth. Which is good-as-painted.
Nice news is nice. It will be even more interesting to analyze after the next recession begins which should be any quarter now. Far as I can tell a lot of recessions occur immediately after a spike in wage growth. But I could be wrong.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday August 02 2019, @05:52PM (2 children)
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/economic-policy-institute/ [mediabiasfactcheck.com]
OTOH, I don't know the bias of the mediabiasfactcheck.com site.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 02 2019, @06:41PM (1 child)
Remember when Obama was President and all these economy numbers were FAKE NEWS?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @06:57PM
Unemployment numbers still are. Wage numbers a less so.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.