Haven't seen this figure mentioned anywhere on SI, so thought I'd mention it for the record, and to respond to the train of thought which says the American worker is doing worse than he was a little while ago, therefore he can't afford to buy anything.
From today's WSJ:
<<Labor markets, meanwhile, seem to be improving. The Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell 21,000 last week to 362,000, the lowest weekly total since February 2001.......The Conference Board's help-wanted index, which measures help-wanted advertising in major newspapers, rose to 47 in June from 44 in May......
Workers also saw their compensation rise in the second quarter. The Labor Department's employment compensation index, a measure of wage, salary and benefit costs to employers, rose 1 percent from the first quarter, following a 0.8% gain in the first quarter.
Over the past year, employee compensation costs have grown 4 percent.>> |
