Wages in US remain mostly stagnant despite unemployment at new lows

Washington

AS the nation's post-recession recovery turned into a long-running economic expansion, policymakers had hoped wages would start to boom once laid-off workers found jobs. With workers in shorter supply, they argued, companies would start offering raises to attract new employees and keep their current ones.

But as the unemployment rate has dipped to a 17-year-low of 4.1 per cent and firms nationwide struggle to fill vacancies, workers aren't seeing the pay hikes that were supposed to come with what analysts call the strongest labour market in two decades.