As I’ve argued for some time, when considering economic policy we should care most about the poor and least skilled. The wealthy and talented will do fine no matter the policy settings. The good news is that over the past year, the US economy has been delivering substantial wage gains to these groups, well ahead of other cohorts. As National Review reports:
- Between November 2018 and November 2019, overall median wage growth climbed 3.6 percent.
- Those in the bottom 25 percent saw wages advance 4.5 percent, while the top 25 percent lagged, with pay rising just 2.9 percent.
- Those ages 16 to 24 (typically the least skilled cohort) saw wages climb 8.4 percent.
- High school graduates got the same wage bump (3.7 percent) as those with bachelor degrees.
- When it comes to race, wage growth for whites was below the median at only 3.5 percent, while non-whites charged ahead at 4.3 percent.
May these trends continue.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.