Analysis: Wage rise a relief for U.S. workers, but Fed is watching

[No Elephants]

Analysis: Wage rise a relief for U.S. workers, but Fed is watching



By Jonathan Spicer

NEW YORK | Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:17pm EST

(Reuters) - Wages quietly rebounded last month for U.S. workers, a welcome sign for many Americans that is also likely to have caught the eye of Federal Reserve policymakers watching for any sign of inflation.

The abrupt rise in hourly earnings follows the lowest level of wage growth in decades, so the U.S. economic recovery has lots of room before inflation alarms go off. And there is little evidence of a broader jump in the kind of inflation that would prompt a tighter Fed policy.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/11/us-usa-economy-wages-idUSBRE90A10T20130111

Let's see.


All we've been hearing since the Cat Food Commission was that the sky would fall unless the President was able to sign into law some Grand Bargain, involving both tax increases and spending cuts. The bipartisan hand wringing out of D.C. and the media quieted considerably during the campaign. However, after election day, I was barely able to read or hear or view a news story that had no reference to the fiscal cliff. December was looking and sounding very dire, with predictions not only of a Wall Street crash and employer spending drying up, but of worldwide economic collapse. (On the bright side, after the worldwide economic collapse of 2008, caused by crap mortgage derivatives and credit default swaps, who would notice?)

A deal never got done in December, but did get done on New Year's Day. However, it did not spending cuts to speak of, nor, for that matter, much in the way of tax increases that will cause any significant dollars to find their way into the Treasury, especially after deductions and tax dodges, like offshore bank counts.

We now learn, though, that, despite all the hue and cry, employers were increasing their spending in December 2012.

Gee, I'm so surprised. All along, I was trusting all the wailing members of Congress, the White House, and the media, all of whom were treating the fiscal cliff like it was a bigger threat than an approaching asteroid or Saddam's WMD right after 911.

But, I'll believe all those usual suspects again 100% the next time that they all all join in the bipartisan drum beating, won't you?


P.S. It's hysterical how little warning we got before the bailout, but we've been hearing since before Obama's inauguration how badly Social Security and Medicare is going to damage the economy of the U.S. beyond repair and therefore the global economy, unless we make the disabled, the elderly and the widows, widowers and orphans give up their damned $2000 executive wastebasket habit. Greedy, corrupt fuckers, that group, wot?

P.P.S. Bermanke can fuck himself, too.