Higher Prices, Stagnant Wages Produce Pay Cut for U.S. Workers

For the first time in 14 years, the American work force has in effect gotten an across-the-board pay cut.
The growth in wages in 2004 and the first two months of this year trailed the growth in prices, compounding the squeeze from higher housing, energy and other costs.
...The effective 0.2-percentage-point erosion in workers' living standards occurred while the economy expanded at a healthy 4 percent, better than the 3 percent historical average.
At the same time, corporate profits hit record highs as companies got more productivity out of workers while keeping pay raises down.
Some see climbing profits and stagnant wages as not only unfair but ultimately unsustainable. "Those that are baking the larger pie ought to see their slices expanding," said Jared Bernstein, an economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington.