indago
05-14-2016, 06:53 PM
From The Associated Press 11 May 2016:
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A widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher- or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. ..."The shrinking of the American middle class is a pervasive phenomenon," said Rakesh Kochhar, associate research director for Pew and the lead author of the report.
...Wendell Nolen, 52, has experienced the slide from middle-class status first-hand. Eight years ago, he was earning $28 an hour as a factory worker for Detroit's American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, assembling axles for pickup trucks and SUVs. But early in 2008, the good life unraveled. After a three-month strike, Nolen took a buyout rather than a pay cut. Less than a year later, the plant was closed and American Axle shipped much of its work to Mexico.
Now Nolen makes $17 an hour in the shipping department of a Detroit steel fabricator, about 40 percent less than he made at the axle plant.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MIDDLE_CLASS_DECLINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-11-21-18-31)
Like we didn't know this already...
We're well on our way in our RACE TO THE BOTTOM so that we can compete with the lessor developed countries, but we still have a long way to go...
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A widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher- or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. ..."The shrinking of the American middle class is a pervasive phenomenon," said Rakesh Kochhar, associate research director for Pew and the lead author of the report.
...Wendell Nolen, 52, has experienced the slide from middle-class status first-hand. Eight years ago, he was earning $28 an hour as a factory worker for Detroit's American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings, assembling axles for pickup trucks and SUVs. But early in 2008, the good life unraveled. After a three-month strike, Nolen took a buyout rather than a pay cut. Less than a year later, the plant was closed and American Axle shipped much of its work to Mexico.
Now Nolen makes $17 an hour in the shipping department of a Detroit steel fabricator, about 40 percent less than he made at the axle plant.
-------------------------------------------------------------
article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MIDDLE_CLASS_DECLINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-11-21-18-31)
Like we didn't know this already...
We're well on our way in our RACE TO THE BOTTOM so that we can compete with the lessor developed countries, but we still have a long way to go...