>Even if this report is not an aberration, earnings appear to be
>rising. It was noted that hourly earnings over the past three
>months are up at a 3.1% annualized rate compared with the previous
>three months, for the fastest growth in a while. Productivity
>growth is also slowing. What does Greenspan do???
March and April were up 0.3%, but May was up just 0.2%, and the average for the year so far is 0.2%. If May's CPI comes in at recent averages, real hourly earnings are off 0.7% over the year. Fringe benefits - "health" insurance - continue to rise, as do stock option exercises and bonuses for the upscale, pushing up unit labor costs. But it's not because the working class is gaining.
The supply siders - Kudlow on CNBC this morning, Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed - are beginning to push for an end to the tightening. It's like the 1980s all over again!
Doug