Wage rises in the year to September 2020 in the United States of America were just 0.91 per cent, after inflation. This is among the poorest outcomes in the developed world.
That’s according to analysis published today by Independent Australia. The article focuses primarily on the shift in wealth and income under Australia’s current conservative Government. But the analysis applies to several other countries, including the USA.
Among the 28 developed countries for which current data is available, the USA ranks a lowly 18th, the lowest since records have been kept. See chart, above.
We know the overall populations in the USA and Australia include high-income salary earners who are currently reaping huge pay increases, notably in the finance and banking sectors. It is thus certain that many low-income earners – probably the majority – experienced substantial real wage cuts in 2020.
Global comparisons
Tradingeconomics.com has data on wage growth for 27 developed countries and the European Union, current to August 2020 or later. The average rise through 2020 after allowing for inflation was a creditable 2.65%.
The real wage rise in Britain was 2.0%, in Europe 2.2%, in Ireland 4.9%, in Canada 5.2% and in Hungary 5.8%. All these improved their outcomes over the year earlier.
The increase in this developed-country average over the last year – from 2.27% in 2019 to 2.65% – confirms global conditions have been positive for wage increases, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia, however, reduced its real wage rise, from 0.82% in 2019 to 0.67% in 2020 – one of a small minority to do so.
The USA reduced its real wage rise even further, from 2.13% in 2019 down to 0.91% in 2020 – close to the worst decline in the developed world.
This adds to the evidence that the big corporations in both countries are taking advantage of the pandemic to advance their campaigns to shift wealth and income from workers to their executives and investors, local and foreign.
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The Independent Australia article is available here for free:
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/wage-rises-in-australia-hit-rock-bottom-as-employers-profit-from-the-pandemic,14707
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“Alan Austin is a great Australian journalist and, I think, a pirate. I steal Alan Austin’s findings all the time.”
~ Jordan Shanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtV-2X4BjQI