After adjusting for inflation, wages have dropped in many of the nation’s largest counties. Real wages are not exactly going through the roof. For the 24-month period through the second quarter of 2005, the inflation-adjusted wages of an average American grew just 1 percent or so, according to statistics reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The BLS data is derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance legislation. The data has not been adjusted for changes that employers later reported to the BLS.
One of the realities about the job market is that wages don’t keep up with prices unless unions are present – not just on the job, but in the community – by driving the bottom UP not further down. Read the article here.