EPI to Hold Media Teleconference on Wages and the State of the U.S. Labor Market: Noted for August 21, 2013

Larry Mishel:

On Wednesday, August 21, at 11:00 a.m. EDT, the Economic Policy Institute will hold a media teleconference on the new EPI report A Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising Middle Class. In the report, EPI President Lawrence Mishel and economist Heidi Shierholz conduct a comprehensive analysis of wage trends (and, where possible, compensation trends, which include fringe benefits such as health care and pensions). They find that across all available data sources, the story is essentially the same: the vast majority of the workforce—including white-collar and blue-collar workers and those with and without a college degree—have seen their wages and benefits stagnate. The authors will distill the report’s findings, answer questions on the wide range of data and identify ways to generate wage growth.

A Decade of Flat Wages: The Key Barrier to Shared Prosperity and a Rising Middle Class will be released in advance of the press call. It uses the most up-to-date data—up to the second quarter of 2013—and provides a thorough overview of wage trends for the past three decades.