It's wages vs. health benefits. On this Labor Day, just about everything seems to be going right for typical American workers, with the glaring and puzzling exception of wage stagnation. The unemployment rate is 3.9 percent, near its lowest since 2000. The number of new jobs exceeds the peak in 2008 by about 11 million. Then there's wage stagnation.
Corrected for inflation, wages are up a scant 2 percent since January 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The gain is roughly one-half of 1 percent annually. Little wonder that many workers feel they're not getting ahead. They aren't.
