Get the Facts before the Domestic Debate

2003: Q1 Average Wages and Salaries- All Civ.: 17.17/hr Q4 Average Wages and Salaries- All Civ.: 17.56/hr Annual Average Wages and Salaries- All Civ.: 17.4/hr Annual Average Benefits- All Civ.: 6.9/hr Annual Average Total Compensation- All Civ.: 24.3/hr Annual Average Unemployment Rate: 6.0% Annual Average of Time Spent Unemployed: 19.22 weeks

John Kerry would have us believe that wages are dropping and health care benefit costs are skyrocketing. Looking at the numbers above for 2003, it's clear that he is lying through his teeth.

To begin with, John Kerry's claim that new jobs that are created pay $9,000 dollars less than the job they're replacing. Figuring a 40 hour work week (a pipe dream most weeks), that means that the average job in America pays 36,192 in 2003. A whopping 25% decrease on each job lost.

Considering that the average time of unemployment is 19.22 weeks in the same period, we see that the unemployment rolls are completely renewed 2.7 times per year. Which means that in an average year 16.2 percent of jobs in the US are lost and "recreated". If 16.2% of the jobs paid lower by 25%, the drop in wage payment rates would be very noticable. An example of 1000 jobs, all getting paid the average, illustrates this well. Of 1000 jobs paying 36000 dollars, 162 of them are lost and rehired at 27,000. What we see in this case is that the average after the entire cycle rolls through is that the average annual wage is now $34,542. This is an average hourly of 16.60, a decrease in the average wage of 4%.

The only thing countering this is the raises gained by the 82.2% of the other jobs. To break even, they'd have to climb by 6%. This means a raise of just over $2000 a year, or .96/hr on the remaining "average" jobs just to break even. I don't know about you, but I don't think the average job gets a whole extra dollar an hour.

In short, Mr. Kerry's claims of every new job paying 9000 dollars less don't stand up to the numbers and cold, hard logic.

I wrote this to directly attack one point of the Kerry/Edwards platform that they have on their website. Though I'd say more like it's a framework of ideas than a solid platform.

Jobs and the "$9,000" are the way Kerry tries to get around the fact that his economy arguments were falling apart. I can almost guarantee you that we'll hear it.

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