Pay Paradox
12/08/2014 | | econ70, Economic forecasting, economist on radio, economist on TV, eisenberg and economics, Eisenberg and housing economics, Eisenberg and public speaking, Elliot eisenberg, funniest economist, funny housing economist, Graphsandlaughs, graphsandlaughs and eisenberg, housing sales, MLS, mortgage banking, Multiple listing service, politics and economics, Public speaking economist, www.econ70.com
Last Friday’s November labor report reinforces the notion that the economy really is improving. Payroll growth has averaged 241,000/month year-to-date, a 24% improvement over last year. Yet private sector wage gains are up a measly 2.1% year-over-year, despite the strong wage gains of 0.4% last month. Significantly, last month’s “strong” wage gains translate into an average pay raise of just 4.5 cents/hour above trend wage growth. The Fed stands pat.