Total Wages Up 5.1%

One of my favorite national economist is Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist for First Trust Portfolios. Brian last week dug DEEP into the August Jobs Report and discovered that Total Wages, which factors in both hourly earnings and hours worked, are up 5.1% in the past year. Second, Total Wages (net after taxes) have increased by $200 billion since last December when the Tax Reform Bill was passed.

And according to Elliott Eisenberg, another one of my favorite national economists said, year over year job openings are up 11.9%, but hires are up just 3.3% as employers have run out of people to hire. A record 25% of small businesses say finding qualified workers is problem #1.