Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Largest US Average Weekly Wages Decline Since 1978.


Average weekly wages for the nation fell 2.5 percent over the year in the first quarter of 2009. This is the largest over-the-year decline in U.S. average weekly wages dating back to 1978....
The largest wage losses occurred in New York County, New York, with a decline of 23.4 percent from the first quarter of 2008...
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Average weekly wages: first quarter 2008–09."
Note that the government measure of wages does not include the employer cost of employee benefits. In this recession, most likely, employees have also seen a reduction in employer payment of employee benefits. See my earlier post,"Government Wage Statistics Miss Reduction of Employee Benefits."

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