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posted by martyb on Friday August 02 2019, @08:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the deregulation-and-tariff dept.

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%.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @04:01PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @04:01PM (#874683)

    Don't let buzztardo fool ya, from the conclusion of his citation

    "Rising wage inequality continues to be a defining feature of the American economy. Because of the recent uptick in wages for the 20th through 40th percentiles over the last year on top of steady increases over the last few years at the 10th percentile, wage growth is in the rough shape of a checkmark with stronger growth at the bottom attributed to several consecutive years of state-level minimum wage increases and a growing economy, while the fastest growth at and near the top is a continuation of the trends in growing inequality since the 1970s."

    So bottom rung wage earners got some bumps but their pay is still shit, and thise pay bumps barely outpaced higher wage groups. Typical use of stats by our resident dumbass.

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  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 02 2019, @06:01PM (4 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday August 02 2019, @06:01PM (#874744) Journal

    Even the title is pulling a fast one with the stats. That claim that the 99% got a bigger raise is not supported by the evidence presented in the OPINION piece. (Since when are we posting opinion pieces to the frontpage?)

    This statement says nothing about who received the raises:

    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%.

    How much of those increases went to the 1%?

    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @06:11PM (3 children)

      How much of those increases went to the 1%?

      See, that question there tells me two things.

      1. You don't actually care about how the 99% are doing. You care that the 1% has more. Textbook envy.
      2. You can't tell the difference between "the 99%" in wage earners vs. wealth holders. There's not as much overlap as you'd think.
      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday August 02 2019, @06:15PM (2 children)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday August 02 2019, @06:15PM (#874759) Journal

        No, I'm simply pointing out the claim is not supported by the evidence presented.

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @07:04PM (1 child)

          There's no evidence presented at all. I think they're allergic to hyperlinks, so I'll link it [bea.gov] for everyone. Mind you, you'll need to hit the interactive tables here [bea.gov] and do some digging if you want to see what's really what. They're not fans of Palemoon, by the way. Spoof your useragent if necessary.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @02:43PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 03 2019, @02:43PM (#875149)

            Now you're browser-printing users? Or did DM say he uses palemoon?

            On topic I did check your link and while the % was higher for lowest earners the extra couple of points is literally cents. Like a full whopping quarter. Now a few % points for mid and top level earners is a massive portion of the low wage person's YEARLY take.

            Forgot how much of a disingenuous prick you are.

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday August 02 2019, @06:07PM

    Typical use of stats by our resident dumbass.

    Yeah, let's not let a little thing like the truth get in the way of our beliefs.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.