Average hourly earnings for rank-and-file production and nonsupervisory workers in May 2018 were 2.8% higher than a year ago, the fastest increase since July 2009. Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and regulatory reform, American workers’ wage growth is finally approaching the previous expansion’s 3% average.

*Excludes those who are typically higher paid such as supervisors and owners of service-producing firms and workers engaged in management, sales, and accounting for goods-producing firms.

LAST WEEK

JEC Releases

Chairman Paulsen's Opening Statement on “The Potential for Health Savings Accounts to Engage Patients and Bend the Health Care Cost Curve.” An excerpt:

An important part of everyday life is making decisions based on personal preferences, needs, and, of course, cost, and it is for this reason that competition thrives among auto manufacturers, food producers, and home builders to deliver safe, healthy, and long-lasting products that people can afford. We all acknowledge that American health care and health insurance are very expensive. Health savings accounts, or HSAs, allow Americans to lower the cost of health care by drawing on an important area of their expertise: themselves. HSAs have delivered great benefits, and there may be even more to come if lawmakers strengthen HSAs' hold in the marketplace. I believe they can broaden access to quality medical care, increase patient choice, and improve health for all Americans.

Hearing Video

News & Commentary

There are more job openings than people out of work, something the American economy has never experienced before (CNBC)

Why U.S. Prime-Age Workforce Participation Is Lagging Behind Other Nations (Wall Street Journal)

Americans’ Wealth Surpasses $100 Trillion (Wall Street Journal)

2018 Economic Survey of the United States (OECD Study)

Hey Fed, Don’t Be Scared of a Little More Inflation (Bloomberg)

All Downhill for Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds (Economics21)