FINANCE
U.S. Unemployment Is Up, But Wages Are Up Too
The U.S. economy got some mixed news this week. First-time unemployment claims rose this week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But median weekly earnings of full-time, salaried workers also increased, according to a statement from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On July 18, the Labor Department announced that initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ending July 13 was 216,000, which was an increase of 8,000 over the previous week.
But those employed saw their wages increase for the second quarter of 2019, according to a statement released by the BLS on July 17.
Median weekly earnings for America’s 117.6 million full-time wage and salary workers was $908 in the 2019 second quarter. That was 3.7 percent higher in a year-over-year comparison to the same quarter the previous year.
The BLS broke down wage gains by gender and race. For the 2019 second quarter, women had median weekly earnings of $814, or 81.4 percent of the median of $1,000 for men.
Median weekly earnings of white workers was $933, Asian workers $1,152, African-American workers $724 and Hispanic workers $696.
