jobbled wagery staggers sideways

"Despite the low unemployment rate, 
workers once again appeared
 to have only limited power
 to bargain for higher wages.
 Average weekly earnings 
for nonfarm production workers 
climbed only one-tenth of 1 percent 
in August
 and were up 2.7 percent 
compared with a year earlier.

"Put another way,
 wages did not keep up 
with the overall pace
 of inflation.

 Though consumers have continued 
to spend more,
 they have done so
 by reducing their savings rate 
below zero.

Earlier this week,
 the Commerce Department reported 
that the household savings rate 
in July turned negative
 - to minus 0.6 percent - 
for only the second time
 since it began collecting
 those statistics in 1959"




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