Your paycheck has been shrinking for 5 years

[Sherman A1]

More Americans are working and the unemployment rate is falling, but it sure isn’t showing up in workers’ paychecks.

Since the Great Recession ended five years ago, the amount of money Americans earn each hour after adjusting for inflation has actually fallen. And that largely explains why the U.S. economy is growing just 60% as fast as it normally does.

Hourly wages have risen about 10% overall since June 2009, to $24.45 an hour. But over the same span they’ve slipped 0.3% in “real” or inflation-adjusted terms.

That means most families are just treading water.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/08/19/your-paycheck-has-been-shrinking-for-5-years/

[Demeter]

1. It's been shrinking a lot longer than that, honey

It's just that the shrinkage has gotten obscene.