Why Aren't Wages Rising?

When President Obama delivers a speech about the economy, he never utters a "sound bite that declares America's storms have passed," said Alexis Simendinger at Real Clear Politics. He knows that plenty of Americans still feel uncertain about their jobs and fearful for their future. But last week, with good economic news breathing wind into his sails, the president seemed to say, "Snap out of it." In his most substantive domestic policy speech in months, Obama insisted that despite the long slog from the financial crisis, economic indicators are undeniably brightening. The unemployment rate in September dropped to 5.9 percent, the lowest level since July 2008, and businesses have created 10 million jobs in the past five years. "Inch by inch," the recovery is taking hold.