Sunday, December 03, 2017

Low wage rises

In many countries, more people are in work than before the global financial crisis as the world economy racks up its strongest growth since 2010. But pay, which would normally rise more quickly as employers compete for staff, is rising painfully slowly for many.
U.S. data  on workers’ earnings which showed the weakest rise in a year-and-a-half in October, up by an annual 2.4 percent. That’s an improvement from growth of less than 2 percent as recently 2015 but before the financial crisis, American wages were growing by as much as 3.6 percent a year.
If wage growth is weak in the United States, the picture is bleaker for workers in many other countries.
In Britain, workers are facing the prospect of nearly two lost decades for earnings growth, taking inflation into account, according to new official forecasts.
For OECD economies overall, real wage growth is projected to remain moderate, barely picking up speed over the next couple of years, the Paris-based organisation says.
Economists think the cause of the global earnings slowdown, at least in part, has to do with escalating competition in the world economy, and the rise of giant online corporations such as Amazon and Uber, which is squeezing many employers.

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