Last year the median wage hit its lowest level since 1998. The median wage — half of workers make more, half less — came to $27,519 last year, virtually unchanged from 2011. Measured in 2012 dollars, the median wage was down $4.
From its all-time peak in 2007, the median wage was down $980. That means someone at the midpoint in pay worked 52 weeks last year but earned about the equivalent of working just 50 weeks at 2007 pay levels.
The average wage, on the other hand, improved last year. It increased to $42,498, up $434, or 1 percent from 2011 after considering inflation. When the average wage grows but the median wage stagnates, it means that, statistically, only workers in the top half of the job market are experiencing increases. Analysis shows the growth is mostly in the top quarter, which starts at just under $50,000 in annual pay. In 2012, the data show, 67. 1 percent of workers earned less than the average, up from 66.6 percent in 2011 and 65.9 percent in 2000. When a rising share of workers makes less than the average wage, it is another sign that wage increases are taking place only high on the income ladder, not on every rung.
Total real wages per American were 6 percent lower in 2012 than in 2007. Compared with 2007, that 6 percent real decline in per capita pay means Americans working 52 weeks in 2012 collected paychecks equivalent to just 49 weeks in 2007.
From its all-time peak in 2007, the median wage was down $980. That means someone at the midpoint in pay worked 52 weeks last year but earned about the equivalent of working just 50 weeks at 2007 pay levels.
The average wage, on the other hand, improved last year. It increased to $42,498, up $434, or 1 percent from 2011 after considering inflation. When the average wage grows but the median wage stagnates, it means that, statistically, only workers in the top half of the job market are experiencing increases. Analysis shows the growth is mostly in the top quarter, which starts at just under $50,000 in annual pay. In 2012, the data show, 67. 1 percent of workers earned less than the average, up from 66.6 percent in 2011 and 65.9 percent in 2000. When a rising share of workers makes less than the average wage, it is another sign that wage increases are taking place only high on the income ladder, not on every rung.
Total real wages per American were 6 percent lower in 2012 than in 2007. Compared with 2007, that 6 percent real decline in per capita pay means Americans working 52 weeks in 2012 collected paychecks equivalent to just 49 weeks in 2007.
Effectively cutting three weeks of pay from the overall economy shows that almost six years after the Great Recession began in December 2007, the economy is far from getting back to where it was, much less growing beyond it.
The number of workers making $5 million or more grew almost 27 percent, to 8,982 workers, up from 7,082 workers in 2011. Total wages earned by these highly paid workers grew 40 percent — 13 times the overall increase in compensation for workers. Even higher up the ladder, the number of workers making more than $50 million soared even more, from 93 in 2011 to a new record of 166 people in 2012. Average pay at this stratospheric level grew almost 20 percent, from $81.4 million in 2011 to $97.5 million last year.
Since 2000, corporate pretax profits, adjusted for inflation, have more than doubled, reaching record levels. Pretax profits of all firms in 2012 totaled $1.77 trillion, compared with $800 billion in 2000. That is a gain of 121 percent. During the same period, total real wages grew by just 7 percent, less than the 11.2 percent population increase. The growth of pretax profits at 17 times the increase in total wages.
Since 2000 the population has grown by more than 11 percent, but the number of people with jobs increased just 3.7 percent. That is, population is growing about three times as fast as jobs are.
No comments:
Post a Comment