Manufacturing Employment Up, But Wages Down

While today's news from the ISM that employment in manufacturing has increased 3.3% from last month, the entire picture is not rosy.

As the New York Times reported on Dec. 30, wages at the GE plant in Louisville, Ky. are falling.

While longtime workers earned $21-$32 an hour, newcomers are getting $12-$19 an hour. And there doesn't seem to be any hope that these wages will increase once workers gain experience.

Plus there still is tremendous competition for these jobs as the article points out that the over 9% unemployment rate in this town causes several thousand people to apply for every $13- an-hour factory job.