In a report issued (see the BBC News) by the DC think tank, the EPI says that although business is improving, working families are feeling no benefits--"average wages have fallen, job satisfaction has declined, ...the rich-poor gap widened....And in terms of recouping jobs since the start of the recession, the US is in a worse position 'than any business cycle since the 1930s'." According to the State of Working America 2004/05 report of the non-profit non-partisan group, average wages in industries that have lost jobs were $51,270 a year, while the average wages in industries that have added jobs were $30,368--a difference of nearly 41%. This means that even the jobs that have been added in the last six months are lesser paying jobs--this leads to job dissatisfaction and decreased buying power of the middle class. The Census Bureau reported last week that an additional 1.3 million people were now classified as 'poor' bringing the total in the US up to 35.9 million people. This is in a country of 270 million people--a 13% ratio of 'poor' to the total population. Does this seem reasonable for a first-world, industrial economy? Keep in mind that a large number of the people labeled 'poor' are actually working two and three jobs!
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