The weekly jobs report today said that:
Fewer workers filed for initial unemployment benefits in the latest week but the data nevertheless point to risk for the April-to-March comparison. Initial claims fell 13,000 in the April 16 week to 403,000, not quite as low as expected and compared with 416,000 in the prior week (revised 4,000 higher). The latest improvement was too modest to keep the four-week average from rising for the fourth time in five weeks, up 2,250 to 399,000. A look back at this time last month shows the average at 391,000.
In other words, according the the Journal, it fell less than expected and the longer term trend continued to be negative.
On Tuesday, the BLS earnings report shows that wage gains continue to be meager, and not able to keep up with price inflation:
Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 98.3 million full-time wage and salary workers were $755 in the first quarter of 2011 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was 0.1 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 2.1 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period.
Wages are going backwards.
This shouldn’t be any surprise to those who know, after all, isn’t this the objective today? Of course, to those who believe that they have their slice of the pie, could care less if others get a piece, even a crumb, should keep in mind that their good fortune can turn on a dime today, that they could be on the other end of the receiving line. Food for thought as you head into the weekend.