October 4, 2007

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for August 2007 increases to 0.2 from the previous month July 2007, to 203.2 (on a 1982-84=100 base). For those who use the 1967=100 baseline in their COLA calculations, the August CPI-W converts to 605.3. These figures represent a 1.8% overall CPI-W increase from August 2007.

COST OF LIVING INCREASES: LAST FIVE YEARS

Month/Year

CPI-W

(1982-84=100)

CPI-W

(1967=100)

Cumulative Increases in CPI-W

Period

August 2007

203.2

605.3

--

--

August 2006

199.6

594.6

1.8

8/06 to 8/07

August 2005

192.1

572.3

5.8

8/05 to 8/07

August 2004

185.0

551.0

9.8

8/04 to 8/07

August 2003

180.3

537.1

12.7

8/03 to 8/07

August 2002

176.6

526.0

15.1

8/02 to 8/07

Release of the CPI-W for September 2007 is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19, 2007

Labor Day 2007: Most workers' wages stuck in the slow lane
Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

On the sixth Labor Day of this economic recovery, the pace of progress ranges from slow to stalled for the nation's middle- and low-wage working people. Even the modest wage gains from the beginning of this recovery period have been fading. Since 2001, real hourly wages rose only 3% for the middle-income worker, with none of this historically small progress occurring after 2003. While most working people remain stuck in the economic slow lane, the better-off among us have avoided the congestion on the ground by flying over it. Since 2001 those with wages higher than 95% of all workers have seen their wage rise by 9%. A new EPI report, Economy's Gains Fail to Reach Most Workers' Paychecks, analyzes the state of working America this Labor Day, looking behind the latest data to the forces at work in an economy that doesn't seem to be playing by the rules.