US wage growth pales relative to stock gains

New York

BEING an American worker with no stake in the equity market has, by one measure at least, seldom been costlier.

Even though wages are improving, the rate of growth in what companies pay employees pales in comparison to what stocks have handed investors over the last six years. In fact, with equities rising 20 per cent annually and wages up 2 per cent, the gap has never been wider in any bull market since 1966.

While comparing salary and stock returns has its imperfections, the figures are revealing in a country where six years of cost cuts helped double the Standard & Poor's 500's earnings and add US$12 trillion to shares. The divergence is a concern when Federal Reserve data show the percentage of families owning stock fell to 48.8 per cent in 201…