wages – News Stories About wages - Page 5

Nov 29, 2008 4:27 AM CST

Left-Handed Men Earn More: Study

Southpaws struggle in school but surpass righties at work

(Newser) - Left-handed men earn an average of 5% more than right-handed men, two British and Irish studies have discovered. The studies found that southpaw males tended to do worse in school—possibly because of trouble adapting to a right-handed world—but were more successful as adults. Female lefties, however, did worse...

Putin Promises to Help Sliding Russian Economy

Nov 21, 2008 2:01 PM CST

Putin Promises to Help Sliding Russian Economy

With many paychecks weeks behind, crisis reminds nation of '90s collapse

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin proposed steps yesterday to stabilize the Russian economy as layoffs and deferred wages cause rising insecurity about the nation’s finances, the Wall Street Journal reports. Russian firms now owe $145 million in delayed wages to 300,000 people, and those figures may actually be higher—a fifth...

Working-Class Anger
May Boil Over Soon

GLOSSIES

Oct 15, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

Working-Class Anger May Boil Over Soon

(Newser) - For a while now, the divide between rich and poor has gotten bigger, but it "hasn't sparked an outright political revolt," writes Reihan Salam in the Atlantic. That could change soon. Our fragile, 20-year "consumption compromise"—the era of cheap goods and cheap credit keeping economic...

Consumers Squeezed, Spending Stalls

Oct 3, 2008 10:45 AM CDT

Consumers Squeezed, Spending Stalls

As prices rise, wages fall and unemployment jumps, spending growth has stalled

(Newser) - The current economic crisis is shaping up to be different than others Americans have weathered in the past 20 years in an important respect, the Washington Post reports: consumer spending, which the nation could always count on to propel the economy through, has stalled. Real spending, the catalyst behind 70%...

Salary Gender Gap May Be All in Your Head

Sep 22, 2008 12:09 PM CDT

Salary Gender Gap May Be All in Your Head

Traditional-minded men outearn supporters of equal pay

(Newser) - Not only is the gender gap in pay persistent, it affects men as well as women. Men with traditional views on a woman's place in the world earn, on average, $12,000 more per year than men who believe in egalitarian business practices, the Washington Post reports. Traditionally minded women...

Inflation Hurts US Workers; Europeans
Keep Pace

Aug 22, 2008 10:20 AM CDT

Inflation Hurts US Workers; Europeans Keep Pace

But higher Europe wages drive up prices

(Newser) - Workers in the US are falling behind inflation while their counterparts in the 15-nation Eurozone are keeping pace, in part because of more powerful unions, the Wall Street Journal reports. But rising wages may damage the European economies, as they deter companies from hiring and in turn boost inflation. When...

Sans Budget,
Arnold to Slash
Calif. Workers' Pay

Jul 24, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Sans Budget, Arnold to Slash Calif. Workers' Pay

Gov threatens cut to minimum wage until state passes budget

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to ease California's cash-flow crisis by slashing the pay of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A draft executive order obtained by the Chronicle also ends overtime pay for all but emergency employees...

Stimulus' Boost Seen; How Long It Lasts Unsure

Jun 27, 2008 2:22 PM CDT

Stimulus' Boost Seen; How Long It Lasts Unsure

Economists debate impact, as inflation outpaces wage growth

(Newser) - The government's stimulus package has worked—for now at least, the New York Times reports. Spending rose 0.4% last month, the Commerce Department said today, buoyed by the $50 billion in checks sent to consumers. But subtract the stimulus, and income levels rose only modestly, and wage growth lagged...

Gas Prices Hit Hardest in Rural Areas—not Suburbs

Jun 9, 2008 8:40 AM CDT

Gas Prices Hit Hardest in Rural Areas—not Suburbs

The South, Southwest, and upper Great Plains feel brunt of $4 fuel

(Newser) - Gas prices, which hit an all-time-high average of $4 a gallon over the weekend, are causing more pain in rural America than anywhere else, with motorists in the South, Southwest, and the upper Great Plains the hardest hit. With relatively low wages and high use of pickup trucks and vans,...

Cuba Loosens Limits on Home Ownership, Salaries

Apr 12, 2008 7:59 AM CDT

Cuba Loosens Limits on Home Ownership, Salaries

State workers can now own houses; salary cap is gone

(Newser) - Raul Castro continues to lighten up on some of Cuba's least popular restrictions, ending salary caps and allowing retiring state workers to take title to the homes they live in. Government employees, including members of the military, sugar and construction workers, doctors, and teachers, will now be able keep their...

Rising Cost of Essentials
Slams Poor Families

Mar 21, 2008 1:35 PM CDT

Rising Cost of Essentials Slams Poor Families

Prices of "core" items are rising twice as fast as wages

(Newser) - The rising price of essentials and sluggish growth in wages mean that inflation is hitting low- to middle-income families hardest, the Washington Post reports. Americans are paying 9.2% more for staples—groceries, gas, health care, etc.— than they did in 2006, nearly twice the pace of the growth...

No-Frills Chain Has CEO
to Match

Dec 2, 2007 9:05 AM CST

No-Frills Chain Has CEO to Match

Costco's Jim Sinegal wins loyalty of his workers, customers

(Newser) - With his hot-dog lunches, second-hand desk, and disdain of ties, Jim Sinegal of Costco is not your typical Fortune 500 CEO. But the 71-year-old's steadfast devotion to the company's no-frills business plan and generosity to employees has helped make Costco a formidable player in the retail business, writes the Seattle ...

Jobs Get Surprise October Bump

Nov 2, 2007 10:25 AM CDT

Jobs Get Surprise October Bump

Good news is new reason for Fed to hold interest rates

(Newser) - Job growth in October was unexpectedly robust, with the addition of 166,000 jobs doubling projections and easing recession fears. Analysts had predicted an increase of only 85,000 jobs; one economist said the surprise figure “will increase the Fed's conviction that it should keep rates unchanged” for months...

August Retail Sales Fail to Meet Forecasts

Sep 14, 2007 10:47 AM CDT

August Retail Sales Fail to Meet Forecasts

Gain of .3% drops to .4% loss if auto sales are excluded

(Newser) - Retail sales were up last month, but the .3% rise failed to meet expectations, and if automobile sales are excluded, sales actually fell by .4%—the steepest drop in a year. The August sales figures provide more fodder for an interest-rate cut when the Fed meets next week. “The...

Health Insurance Premiums Soar

Sep 12, 2007 1:19 AM CDT

Health Insurance Premiums Soar

Costs outpace wage hikes for 8 years running

(Newser) - Health insurance premiums zoomed 6.1% this year, far outrunning inflation and worker earnings, a new study has found. Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have risen 78% percent, while wages have increased by only 19% and inflation by 17%, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows. Still, this year's hike...

Germany Steels for Rail Strike

Aug 7, 2007 6:17 AM CDT

Germany Steels for Rail Strike

Drivers' union action promises major roadblock for summer travelers

(Newser) - A rebellious union of German train drivers has voted overwhelmingly to strike on Thursday, setting the stage for the country's largest industrial action in over a decade, reports the Financial Times. Travelers began canceling trips as the railway dug in, refusing to negotiate with workers and insisting that it could...

McDonald's Plans Raise for Chinese Workers

Aug 6, 2007 7:34 PM CDT

McDonald's Plans Raise for Chinese Workers

Union criticism, bad press prompt chain-wide wage hike

(Newser) - Bowing to pressure from the state labor union and attempting to counter negative publicity, McDonald's will raise wages for its Chinese employees. The fast-food megalith will boost the pay of 45,000 full- and part-time workers by an average of 30%, the Wall Street Journal reports, and issue counter workers...

Wal-Mart Mexico Pays Teen Baggers Nada

Aug 1, 2007 4:54 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Mexico Pays Teen Baggers Nada

Retail giant calls young, uncompensated workers 'volunteers'

(Newser) - Wal-Mart has 4,300 teenagers bagging merchandise for free in its Mexican stores, Newsweek reports. The retail giant isn't doing anything illegal, since the kids aren't technically workers but "volunteers" who donate their time in exchange for gratuities from customers. But labor activists say the notoriously bottom-line-minded company is...

Tech Companies Cool on Indian Outsourcing

Jul 3, 2007 10:12 AM CDT

Tech Companies Cool on Indian Outsourcing

Rising labor costs make hiring at home more attractive

(Newser) - India, the destination of choice for American tech companies looking for sophisticated but cheap labor, is beginning to lose its appeal, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rising pay scales are making it too expensive to justify the complications of globalizing. Now some are outsourcing their outsourcing to slower climes like...

Top Executive Salaries Soar

May 25, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

Top Executive Salaries Soar

Gap between the CEO and the cubicle is wider than ever

(Newser) - The top bananas of the corporate world are taking in more income in relation to their immediate subordinates than ever before, the Times reports. Wealth is concentrating among the business elite but staying somewhat stagnant among more middling execs—the average gap between #1 and #3 has more than tripled...