The "Bad" of the December Employment Report: The Average Worker Loses Purchasing Power

According to the latest Employment Report, the month of December saw an increase of 252,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from the prior month's 5.7%.

Now, that sounds like a good report.  One that President Obama is sure to take credit for.

However, there's another bit of news that you won't hear him talk about.  That news is that the average hourly wage fell by 5 cents.  While 5 cents per hour doesn't sound like much, when its annualized and applied to a workforce of more than 156 million Americans, that loss of 5 cents is an equivalent annual loss of more than $16 billion dollars in overall wages; and, those are billions of dollars that won't be applied to growing the economy.

The fact is, that since 2010 and the employment recovery, too many Americans have lost good paying jobs only to be rehired at lower salaries; resulting in stagnant wages.

This is why, more than anything, Americans have given the President low marks on the economy and why, consistently still place it as their number one priority.  No amount of political speak or the touting of how many jobs he's created is going to make the average American feel good about themselves or the economy.

References:

US created 252,000 jobs in Dec vs. 240,000 est; unemployment rate at 5.6% vs. 5.7% est: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102324257

Wage Stagnation Puts The Squeeze On Ordinary Workers: http://www.foreconomicjustice.org/13657/wage-stagnation-puts-the-squeeze-on-ordinary-workers

President Obama Job Approval - Economy: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval_economy-2820.html

Priorities: http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm

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