American workers losing ground on wages

Wisconsin workers among hardest hit

Competition from China and other low-wage rivals, coupled with fallout from the 2007-‘09 financial crisis, has put American wages under such unprecedented strain that they have shifted into reverse — not merely stagnating, but falling.

And workers in Wisconsin are among the hardest hit in this bare-knuckled global phenomenon.

“Water finds its equilibrium, its own level,” says Jeff Joerres, chief executive of Milwaukee-based global staffing giant ManpowerGroup Inc., who refers to this accelerating leveling of wages as “global labor arbitrage.”

“It’s happening so fast on a global scale that it’s scary,” Joerres said.

In the U.S., the phenomenon is not limited to isolated and vulnerable sectors, such as commodity manufacturing. Rather, wages have fallen across the entire national economy — down 1.1% in the 12-month period from September 2011 to September 2012, the most recent comparisons available.

“Average weekly wages declined in every industry except for information,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in its latest economic census.