Wages Rise as U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls Below 5%

[ucrdem]

Source: New York Times

Is the American worker finally getting a raise?

After years of scant real gains despite steadily falling unemployment and healthy hiring, wages picked up significantly last month, a sign the job market could be tightening enough to force companies to pay more to attract and retain employees.

The half a percentage point increase in average hourly earnings in January was the brightest spot in a generally positive Labor Department report on Friday, which showed job creation slowing from the white-hot pace of late 2015 even as the unemployment rate fell to an eight-year low of 4.9 percent.

The last six months were the best extended period for employee paychecks since the recovery began six-and-a-half years ago.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/business/economy/jobs-report-unemployment-january-fed-interest-rates.html

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[retrowire]

1. Thanks Obama.

Also, TPP sucks!

[ucrdem]

3. Ha.

TPP will be Obama recovery on steroids. We'll probably start calling it the Obama bubble.

[trillion]

18. ?

You forgot your sarcasm tag. Please tell me you are not this uninformed about the TPP.

[ucrdem]

5. Catchy tune.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Let us continue the Obama policies into 2017.

[ucrdem]

6. Egg-zactly.

Fighting old battles makes a good radio show but let's not get carried away.

[onehandle]

11. We will. nt

[redstateblues]

7. Bernie knows better. Things are bad and getting worse.

Don't be fooled by statistics

[OhZone]

8. Nope n/t

[IronLionZion]

9. From the very socialist sounding Bureau of Labor Statistics

[Skittles]

22. agreed

it's not nearly as wonderful out there as they say

[onehandle]

10. Today a member of the 'Not Hillary' Party was trying to tar Hillary with Obama's economic 'failure.'

Yeah. That'll work.

[tazkcmo]

12. Good for those that got raises.

Nobody in my circles has been trickled on yet. Maybe we'll catch a few crumbs before the next crisis.

[trillion]

19. My circle either.

[George II]

13. Damn, Obama fails again!

[davidthegnome]

14. Good news.

The American worker isn't getting a raise though. The American worker will not be getting a raise until we increase the minimum wage. Then the American worker will be getting a raise. I know of at least two individuals, well into their fifties, who have worked for the same business for over ten years... and are earning 7.50 an hour, full time. One of them has children to support.

Sure would help if those individuals could afford to pay their rent. I can tell you that their employer certainly isn't going to raise their pay out of the goodness of his heart. For that matter, neither would mine.

Just, taking issue with that particular line - because the American worker should be... well... everyone who works in America, shouldn't it?

It's not just about job creation, or cutting down unemployment, it's about giving everyone a chance to at least have a few rooms and a bath. Minimum wage, in most states, will not pay the expenses of even a single individual living alone, forcing them to rely on government assistance, family... or other things.

I'm glad we're doing better, but we can do a whole lot better still.

[Dopers_Greed]

15. Excellent news

So now most of America is going to hail Barack Obama for turning the economy around and putting millions of Americans back to work, right?

Right?

...Right...?

[trillion]

20. I am glad to have a job, making only $10 less than I was before the job crisis though.

I think it needs to trickle down in wages now for me to start doing the rah rah's. Barely getting by while working full time and watching the grocery prices go up so much the last several years has actually sucked.

Everyone saw their rent go up and all the bills go up but not the wages. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have a full time job that only requires 2.5 hours commute each way(heavy traffic to go 27 miles), every day so I can barely squeak by.

[lark]

16. Winner oligarchs.

Almost 7 years later we are just back to even. So, really, we lost 7 years of wages to the oligarchs who stole our $$ and are now leveled out, but at a much lower level than we should be. I know for 4 of those years I had no paycheck increase and my bonuses were cut by 60% and I'm one of the lucky ones. I only had to put off my retirement 3 years. Of course if the Repugs get the presidency and both houses, all bets are off and recession is around the corner. That's why we have to vote Dem, no matter what. The alternative is ruination.

[DBoon]

17. The "aristocrats of labor" are getting raises

Maybe the rest of the working class will too.

[trillion]

21. hahahahahha. I doubt that.

[DCBob]

23. Amazing looking at the responses.. you would think this is a RW site.

President Obama has done a tremendous job of taking this country from the brink of economic disaster to relative stability now. It could have been much better had congress not fought him tooth and nail at every step and it could have been much much worse with someone else at the helm.

[Vinca]

24. To hear GOP candidates talk, you'd think this was the end times.

I've haven't heard such doom and gloom since the last presidential campaign. Obama has done a spectacular job given the circumstances he inherited. If a Republican is elected they will, no doubt, opt for austerity measures and it will be months, not years, before the next crash. Then the cycle will continue. A Democrat will be elected to clean up the GOP mess . . . again.

[NickB79]

25. And the higher health care deductibles they push wipe out those raises

That's what happened at my job: insurance costs rose, our deductible went up by $2000/yr for the family plan, and doctor's visit copays almost doubled.

The raise we got is pretty much wiped out by the increase in health insurance costs. And this was the best we could get, AFTER over a year of negotiations and a threatened strike, as we're a Teamster Union factory!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/01/middle-class-workers-struggle-to-pay-for-care-despite-insurance/19841235/