Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

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U.S. NEWS Friday 7 July 2017

American Living:
Where’s my raise? 5 reasons pay isn’t rising much for many

By CHRISTOPHER S. RU- But that doesn’t mean em-
GABER ployers didn’t want to low-
AP Economics Writer er pay during the recession,
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight given their falling revenue
years after the Great Re- and profits. So to offset the
cession ended, the econo- cost of leaving wages un-
my is steadily churning out touched, many employers
jobs, and the unemploy- have withheld raises as the
ment rate is at a 16-year economy has improved.
low. Economists at Bank of
Yet for most Americans, a America Merrill Lynch have
key measure of economic calculated that the share
health — pay growth — still of workers whose wages
lags behind pre-recession didn’t budge — up or
norms. down — rose sharply dur-
That isn’t likely to change ing the recession and still
Friday, when the Labor De- hasn’t returned to healthy
partment will release the levels.
U.S. jobs report for June.
Economists have forecast MOVING DOWN THE PAY
that employers added SCALE
a solid 177,000 jobs last The recession not only sent
month and that the unem- unemployment soaring. It
ployment rate remained also inflicted pain on other
4.3 percent, the lowest people who weren’t tech-
level since 2001. The job A construction worker continues work on a condominium project in Coral Gables, Fla. On Friday, nically unemployed. One
July 7, 2017, the Labor Department will release the U.S. jobs report for June.
market, in other words, has (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) gauge measures the pro-
proved itself resilient. portion of part-time work-
Pay raises are another ers who would prefer full-
story, and a puzzling one. covery from the recession: $36,900. haven’t received one. time jobs — a category
Analysts expect Friday’s re- Until 2014, more Americans that soared during the re-
port to show that average BABY BOOMERS OUT, CAUTIOUS EMPLOYEES actually expected their in- cession. Another barom-
hourly wages rose just 2.6 YOUNGER COMING IN Asking for a raise is never comes to fall rather than eter counts people who
percent from a year ear- One drag on average easy. It’s even harder when rise. And the proportion of have given up their job
lier, according to data pro- salaries is demographic: memories remain fresh of Americans who expected hunts and so are no longer
vider FactSet. That’s well Higher-paid baby boomers a time when nearly 9 mil- a raise didn’t reach pre-re- counted as unemployed.
below the 3 percent to 3.5 are retiring in droves, and lion people were thrown cession levels until late last Millions of those Americans
percent average pay rais- in many cases they’re be- out of work and the unem- year. have gained full-time jobs
es that have been typical ing replaced by lower-paid ployment rate rocketed to “People are out of practice in the past eight years, but
in a healthy economy. younger workers. Roughly 10 percent, as happened when it comes to asking in many cases at much
The Federal Reserve moni- 10,000 Americans turn 65 during and after the 2008- for higher pay,” said Mark lower pay. The Federal
tors the barometers of every day. And while not 2009 Great Recession. Even Zandi, chief economist at Reserve Bank of San Fran-
wage growth for any evi- all retire, most do. now, some people remain Moody’s Analytics. cisco calculated last year
dence that inflation might For younger workers, es- reluctant to approach their that 80 percent of those
be starting to pick up. Infla- pecially those who lack boss and ask to be paid WAGES GOT STUCK formerly part-time workers
tion has remained persis- advanced education, in- more. Even as they slashed jobs who obtained full-time jobs
tently low since the reces- comes have declined over One measure of this trend during the recession, em- did so at wages below the
sion ended — lower even the past four decades. A is the Conference Board’s ployers generally refrained national median level of
than the Fed’s 2 percent typical American in the 25- consumer confidence sur- from cutting pay for their pay.
target rate, which it re- to-34 age range earned vey. The survey asks people remaining workers. Econo- And people who are un-
gards as consistent with a $34,800 in 2016, accord- whether they expect their mists say that isn’t surpris- employed or who have
healthy economy. ing to the Census Bureau. income to increase within ing: Employers tend not to stopped looking altogeth-
Here are five reasons why Once you adjust for infla- six months. The more likely cut pay for workers who er are typically hired at
pay growth has lagged tion, that’s less than in 1975, they are to expect a pay survive a round of layoffs to wages about 30 percent
chronically behind job when the typical worker gain, the more likely they avoid further demoralizing below the median pay, re-
growth for most of the re- in that age group earned are to ask for a raise if they a staff. search has found.q