August 31, 2007

The Smiths: Organized Labor's Favorite Band

“From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:

PARTISANS WRANGLE over workers' well-being ahead of Labor Day.

National Association of Manufacturers says 82% of work force saw inflation-adjusted wage increases in past year, buffering fallout from mortgage mess. But liberal Economic Policy Institute finds "slow to stalled" progress for typical workers, whose 3% wage gain since 2000 lags behind 20% productivity gain.

The "liberal" Economic Policy Institute is an arm, an adjunct, a weapon of organized labor, and its report reflects the official union line on the economy and jobs.

Here's the full title of EPI's Labor Day analysis: "Economy's Gains Fail to Reach Most Workers' Paychecks."

OK, not only is it wrong (see NAM's Labor Day report), if taken seriously, it reflects such a morose, sad-sack view of the world. Life is horrible, and we're all victims. Gee....

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now

-- The Smiths,
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now -- video

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:46 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

August 30, 2007

Not Since the 90s: Wages See Good, Good Growth

From Bizjournals.com:

American workers received the broadest gain in wages since 2000 during the past 12 months, according to National Association of Manufacturers' Annual Labor Day Report.

The report, released Tuesday, said that 95 million working Americans, or 82 percent of the workforce, received real wage gains.

"This marks the broadest gain in real wages since 2000 when 95 percent of the workforce experienced real wage gains," said NAM Chief Economist David Huether.

As Huether notes in the NAM Labor Day report (available at the NAM's Labor Day Report page), "[It] was not until the unemployment rate moderated over a similar four-year period (1992-1996) that real wage growth began to take place during the expansion in the 1990s."

So the best economic news in a decade, despite housing? We return to the topic in light of today's news, bannered at the Drudge Report. From the AP's economics writer this morning:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy grew at its strongest pace in more than a year during the spring as solid improvements in international trade and business investment helped offset weakness in housing.

The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at an annual rate of 4 percent in the April-June quarter, significantly higher than the 3.4 percent rate the government had initially estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Just a little balance to the news' tendency to find the economy's dark clouds always building, threatening, looming.

Posted by Carter Wood at 10:21 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 28, 2007

NAM Report: Demand for Workers Boosts Wages

The NAM has just released its 10th annual Labor Day Report, a review of the U.S. economy, with particular emphasis on the manufacturing sector and -- it being Labor Day -- workers. You can see the entire report and additional resources by going to the NAM's page, www.nam.org/labordayreport.

The report began a decade ago to provide balance to the inevitably dour view of the economy offered annually by organized labor. No matter what the figures said, labor's take was always something along the line of, "Workers are getting a raw deal."

Now, the NAM doesn't shy away from the facts. As NAM Chief Economist David Huether explains in the video above, the last four quarters have seen the biggest downturn in housing in 16 years.

Still, the economy is strong, and workers are doing remarkably well. Key highlights from the Labor Day Report:

The labor market is tight, with the unemployment rate nationally at 4.6 percent. Many parts of the country (Montana, as this report notes), are absolutely crying for workers.

With demand high, about 95 million working Americans, representing 82 percent of the workforce, received real wage gains over the last year.

This represents the broadest gain in real wages since 2000. (Only three industry sectors experienced declines in real wages – retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and utilities.)

Gains among the manufacturing workforce are even stronger, as the sector's employees earned 30 percent more than the private-sector average.

In real dollar figures, that final fact translates to the average yearly compensation for a full-time worker in manufacturing rising to $68,860, compared to an average of $53,500 in the rest of the private-sector workforce.

Good news for manufacturing workers, definitely, but the sign of lots of headaches for employers. NAM members we've surveyed report serious difficulties hiring skilled employees; indeed, the issues ranks only second to health care as a concern for NAM members.

With Labor Day also arrives the start of the new school year, and we think the NAM's Annual Labor Day report serves a pedagogic purpose. Hey, you young people: You want to earn a good wage? Study math and science, gain some technical skills, and get into manufacturing.

We really need you.

Again, the report is: www.nam.org/labordayreport

Posted by Carter Wood at 5:00 PM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend