Federal Reserve chair calls decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

[elleng]

'The fall in the percentage of economic growth flowing to workers is "very troubling," a worrisome sign in an otherwise bright American economy, Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Testifying in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Powell expressed concern that the share of profits going to American labor had fallen "precipitously" for more than a decade and was not reversing course.

In 2000, wages and salaries for American workers accounted for about 66% of the overall economy. That rate has fallen to about 62%, although the decline has leveled off since the end of the Great Recession, according to statistics compiled by the Brookings institution and cited at Tuesday's hearing by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.).

"We want an economy that works for everyone," said Powell, who was appointed by President Trump last fall to oversee the nation's central bank. "In the last five years or so, labor share of profits has been sideways. This is very much akin to the flattening out of median incomes over the last few decades."'>>>

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-federal-reserve-powell-20180717-story.html

[nitpicker]

1. It's not just wages and salaries

I went to a seminar yesterday in which it was indicated that those employers that offer retirement plans to their employees are increasingly setting up 401(k) plans versus other plans such as contributing shares of profits to employee retirement accounts.

[Squinch]

2. They're all shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

[Hotler]

3. Trickle down is coming any day folks, any day. nt