2000 - 2009 The Lost Decade.
 

Last Ten Years Of Wage Gains Lower Than During The Great Depression

For decades, wages and incomes for the American worker have been stagnant, even as productivity has increased substantially. Over the 2000 to 2009 period, workers experienced a “lost decade,” with incomes falling by nearly five percent and wages hardly growing at all. And according to Jed Graham, the last decade in terms of real wages was actually worse than the Great Depression:

The increase in total private-sector wages, adjusted for inflation, from the start of 2001 has fallen far short of any 10-year period since World War II, according to Commerce Department data. In fact, if the data are to be believed, economy wide wage gains have even lagged those in the decade of the Great Depression (adjusted for deflation). Over the past decade, real private-sector wage growth has scraped bottom at 4%, just below the 5% increase from 1929 to 1939, government data show.

Lack of wage growth has been a sad reality for too many Americans over the last decade and more. “I hadn’t seen a raise in 13 years,” Teresa Law, an Ohio home care attendant told ABC. “There was nothing new in your budget except for bills.” But during that time, bank CEOs made an average of $19 million per year. Those at the top of the income scale also did exceedingly well, and “the wealth of millionaire households in the U.S. could reach $87 trillion in 2020.”

At the moment, the wage trend doesn’t show much sign of reversing itself. Last year, wages grew at a paltry two percent. However, CEOs saw their pay increase by 27 percent in 2010, and their bonuses went up by 20 percent.

Yves Smith commented on Graham’s data by saying, “there is a curious failure to mention why wage gains were higher in the Depression despite even higher unemployment. Funny how it does not occur them to mentions unions as helping give workers some bargaining power.” Indeed, as we’ve shown before, as union membership has declined over the last few decades, middle-class incomes have followed suit.

Last Ten Years Of Wage Gains Lower Than During The Great Depression | ThinkProgress

Interesting. I'd love to see a comparison of educational level VS income over the same time span.

Plus given the massive transfer of manufacturing to China the mid and low range jobs market has gotten screwed over. Add in the growth of illegals in construction and other areas and I can see this as a long term trend.

To which I may add the complete and total deliberate mishandling of the economy by the PROGRESSIVES......in BOTH parties...

:dance:

You idiots. It's all Bush's fault. :rolleyes:

And probably most important of all:

The bursting of the Internet Bubble (thanks to the 1994-2000 era).

Trillions were lost.

The REALLY LOST DECADE?? 1964-1974.......

All that feel good crapola left over from the stupid LBJ/Kennedy feel good socialist welfare.....

and at NO time did any R CONSERVATIVE majority EVER have enough clout in BOTH houses to over ride that bullshit....NEVER...not once, not even 6 months...

as if it couldn't be done in 6 days..even yet....


:confused5::seeya:

Actually President Obama did all of this is in 28 months. :yesnod:

Please don't give President Bush all the credit. :D

Oh, more stupidity from "Think" progress.


http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...e1967-2009.png


They could have at least said something honest like "median income has been stagnant the past decade or so:


http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...holdIncome.jpg


I guess the truth isn't liberally biased enough. :rolleyes:


Median household income HAS suffered a lost decade, thanks to the fact that we recovered from the 2000s recession in around 2003, but only had a brief 5 year expansion before the bill suddenly came due for our mindless housing policy, which BTW the Obama admin. is now quietly resurrecting.

Why does that graph stop @ 2007 ? :confused5:

Because I know 2008 was stellar. :hurray:

Especially after July. :yesnod: