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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202-693-4650
Today's report shows that American workers continue to
benefit from our nation's prosperity. Third quarter real weekly earnings
(adjusted for inflation) of the typical full-time worker rose 1.8 percent a
record fourth year in a row of real wage gains.
Yet we have much work to do. While earnings for the lowest
paid workers rose over the past year, the earnings of higher paid workers grew
faster. Earnings of the median worker rose nearly twice as fast as the earnings
of lowest wage earners and earnings of the highest paid workers rose nearly
three times are fast.
We have the opportunity to narrow this gap by raising the
minimum wage. More than 10 million of America's lowest paid workers would
benefit from a $1.00 increase in the federal minimum wage. We must reward a
hard day's work with an increase in the minimum wage which does not sacrifice
the overtime protections of American workers.
We also must continue the strategy of investing in the
education and training so that we can provide the skilled workers that
employers need and expand prosperity to all Americans. (The usual weekly
earnings of high school graduates were 56.5 percent of the weekly earnings of
college graduates. Workers in occupations that have the highest education and
skill requirements receive the highest earnings.)
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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