Baraka_Guru

Profits are up maybe because of CEO decisions that both save money and increase revenues.

But in regards to the average worker, a 4.3% increase is more than double the average annual rate of inflation for that same period, so workers are generally better off. I doubt you could have increased worker pay by as much as 300% and still maintain profitability. Even something like 5% or 6% would be unsustainable. Worker cost is generally a high one as an overall percentage of business costs.

I know it doesn't sound fair, but I will repeat what I said in my previous post: This is more market-based than based on "fairness," whatever that is.

EDIT: I just realized that this is a "cumulative" increase, which means inflation has eroded worker earnings by as much as 16% to 18% over the period. Okay, well, that sucks. Fine. But I still say this is market-based. I blame globalization.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot