Wages Are No Longer Growing At All

The inflation figures for April are in, which means we can take a look at how much wages went up last month. First, here’s a broader look:

Up through 2016, wages were rising at about 1 percent per year (adjusted for inflation).

In the past 12 months, wage growth slumped to 0.13 percent. For blue-collar workers, wage growth was 0.17 percent.

In April, wages fell slightly. Wages for blue-collar workers were flat. The growth rate has been heading down, down, down.

Here’s a chart showing wage growth over the past few years. It’s totally unfair to point out the month Donald Trump was elected, but what can I do? I’m all about the facts, you know. In any case, no worries here. The CEOs and other rich folks who really elected Trump are doing great, even if the blue-collar workers who supposedly elected him aren’t getting anything out of his presidency. The Republican Party suckered them again.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate