It would be surprising if the richest, who own the most stock, didn't get richer in such times. It's also not surprising that wage disparities are narrowing at a time of low unemployment. Retail store workers, too, are beginning to see their pay rise faster than the average for all industries. Indeed, wage inequality has been declining for most of the 1990s, reports the University of Texas Inequality Project, which measures wages in manufacturing across 18 industries dating back to 1947. It makes sense.
Economic growth creates more jobs, and the lowest-paid workers do better too.
That's why joblessness among minorities is lower than it has been in decades. The UT figures show less wage disparity now than in the 1970s or 1980s or the latter half of the 1950s. Those facts don't mean that all is well. But they do suggest a different perspective for this Labor Day. Increased wealth represents an opportunity and a challenge to spend our riches wisely for economic and social good and to raise the level of the lowest wage earners so they can get into the game of wealth building too.