Wampum

I used to blog pretty consistently (here, here, here, etc.,) about what I termed "worker bee wages", that is, the data found on Table B-4 of the Employment Situation Report. Here's a recap from my last post, back in 2006:

When Bush took office, the average annual hourly wage was $8.11 ($16,869 yearly gross). It increased to an annual average of $8.27, ($17202) in 2003, with a peak of $8.31 ($17,285) in November, 2003.

In 2004, annual average wages had fallen to $8.23 ($17, 118). By 2005, the annual average was down to $8.17 (16,994), for a net loss of $208 since 2003.

In comparison, during the Clinton Administration's tenure, the annual average of inflation adjusted hourly wages increased from $7.53 ($15,662) in 1993 to $8.04 ($16,723) in 2000, for an overall net gain of $1,061.

So where are we today? Well, from the latest report, which runs through November, 2007, the average worker bee wage stood at $8.29, down from December, 2006's average of $8.36. Clearly, things are not looking good for America's worker bees.

One really scary note on the personal income report from BLS:

Personal saving -- DPI less personal outlays -- was a negative $116.6 billion in December, compared with a negative $99.2 billion in November. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was a negative 1.2 percent in December, compared with a negative 1.0 percent in November. Negative personal saving reflects personal outlays that exceed disposable personal income. Saving from current income may be near zero or negative when outlays are financed by borrowing (including borrowing financed through credit cards or home equity loans), by selling investments or other assets, or by using savings from previous periods.

People are running up huge amounts of debt to merely stay afloat. Eventually, that debt will come due and people will either pay it (blood from a stone?) or default, as their apparently doing in record numbers on credit cards, auto and student loans, not just adjustable rate mortgages.

Chickens coming home and all...