US real earnings boom

[Doug Henwood]

Between Feb 97 and Feb 98, U.S. real hourly earnings for all private sector
workers were up 2.7%, led by 3.0% gain in services; manufacturing lagged at
up 1.6%. There's been a steady acceleration in real wage growth since it
turned up in mid-1995, with a spurt over the last year; just a year ago,
the overall gain was under 1%.

Is this a blip, shortly to be squashed by Alan Greenspan, or a real
reversal of the downtrend in real hourly earnings that began in 1973?

Doug