US real wages fall at fastest rate in 14 years

Any chance wages are down because the supply of illegal aliens willing to perform cheap labor is up?

• Inflation rose 3.1 per cent in the year to March but salaries climbed just 2.4 per cent, according to the Employment Cost Index. In the final three months of 2004, real wages fell by 0.9 per cent.

  The last time salaries fell this steeply was at the start of 1991, when real wages declined by 1.1 per cent.

  Stingy pay rises mean many Americans will have to work longer hours to keep up with the cost of living, and they could ultimately undermine consumer spending and economic growth.