The Commerce Department released a report today showing that corporate profits surged 87 percent from the third quarter of 2001 to the end of 2003, while and wages and salaries grew only 4.5 percent. Because of the rise in worker output per hour, companies have met rising demand without hiring new employees or retaining existing ones by boosting wages. The increase in worker's pay was the smallest for the first nine quarters of any recovery since World War II.
See "OECD warns of unbalanced growth
Corporate profit climbs 87% while worker pay rises 4.5%", Art Pine, Chicago Tribune, May 10, 2004