Young workers’ pay eroding
Young workers’ pay eroding
Young people entering the job market are taking the brunt of the downward pressure on wages caused by high unemployment, according to a new analysis of pay trends, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In data compiled for a coming report, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, found that the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates ages 23 to 29 dropped 11 percent in the past decade to $21.68 in 2011. For female college graduates of the same ages, the average wage is down 7.6 percent to $18.80.
“New college graduates have been losing ground for 10 years,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the institute, which derived the figures from regular government wage surveys. The drop in average wages for young adults is in contrast to U.S. government figures showing that average inflation-adjusted hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers of all ages and education levels are up 3 percent from a decade ago.
The EPI data are another sobering sign for college students and have implications for the economy. With wages falling for many young people and about flat for the nation as a whole, consumers have limited ability to pay down debts and revive the economy with more spending.
Young people entering the job market are taking the brunt of the downward pressure on wages caused by high unemployment, according to a new analysis of pay trends, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In data compiled for a coming report, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, found that the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates ages 23 to 29 dropped 11 percent in the past decade to $21.68 in 2011. For female college graduates of the same ages, the average wage is down 7.6 percent to $18.80.
“New college graduates have been losing ground for 10 years,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the institute, which derived the figures from regular government wage surveys. The drop in average wages for young adults is in contrast to U.S. government figures showing that average inflation-adjusted hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers of all ages and education levels are up 3 percent from a decade ago.
The EPI data are another sobering sign for college students and have implications for the economy. With wages falling for many young people and about flat for the nation as a whole, consumers have limited ability to pay down debts and revive the economy with more spending.
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