biolog

This is pretty depressing. According to Economics Unbound’s reading of Bureau of Labor Statistics data on wage and salary earnings college graduates made 5.5% less last quarter then they did a year ago.

The topline number was that median weekly earnings for all workers, adjusted for inflation, were roughly about flat compared to a year earlier.

But when I looked at the details and did some calculations for different subgroups, I saw something that shocked me.

			real median weekly earnings, 08II
			percentage change over previous year
high school diploma only				-0.3%
some college or associated degree				-0.9%
bachelor’s degree only				-5.5%
advanced degree				2.1%

Why would that be happening? Is wage competition from outsourcing finally hitting the more educated classes? Did all those Indian engineers and scientists that used to answer phones in call centers in India start working in jobs that compete with educated Americans? Or is this just a weird hiccup in the “correction” that’s now occurring? Is there any way we can just blame this all on Bush?