Washington Secrets

Wages drop, only 5th time in 33 years

By Paul Bedard
Published July 2, 2012 4:00am ET
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Wages drop, only 5th time in 33 years
A new federal report finds that wages declined in 2011, only the fifth time in 33 years. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) | Bill Pugliano

Unemployment ebbs and flows, but one measure of the nation’s economic health, average weekly wages, rarely dips.

Until now. In the latest demonstration of the struggling economy that threatens President Obama’s reelection, average weekly wages fell in 2011, one of only five declines since the category was created in 1978 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Paul Bedard