wages

For the nearly 14 million Americans who want to work and can't find jobs, unemployment insurance is a vital lifeline. But how much help that lifeline is varies widely from state to state. We crunched the numbers to see which states are the best -- and worst -- places to be unemployed.

Forget about cash-stuffed wedding envelopes. A Dutch study suggests brides could pick up an extra half million dollars by doing nothing -- specifically, by not changing their names. Women who kept their maiden names were judged to be more professional, were more likely to win a job, and attracted higher pay, the study showed.

Are taxpayers "footing the bill for these federal employees while watching their own salaries remain flat and their benefits erode," as Florida representative Dennis Ross stated in discussion over a Republican call to get federal employee pay in line with private-sector pay? Or are they, as...

Everyone knows that the typical American household has been running in place or falling behind financially, thanks to stagnant wages and rising prices. But a new study from the the Economic Policy Institute shows that the problem has been endemic not for years, but for decades.

The U.S. set the forces of globalization in motion, and now more than ever, it's clear we're suffering the consequences: high unemployment, stagnant or declining incomes, and rising costs for goods. Can the policies of the surging Tea Party provide solutions, or will they just make matters worse?

Despite all the worry over the impact of rising oil prices, recall that the U.S. is now a largely services-based economy. And observe that the rising wages that have led to real overall cost rises in decades past are nowhere to be found today. Exhibit A is in Wisconsin.

Unrest across the Middle East is pushing high oil prices higher, and that's having a cascade effect that feels a lot like inflation as these higher prices bubble through the economy. Still, that's not enough reason for the Fed to battle inflation by starting to raise rates.

Inflation has inched higher in the past six months, but that's not a danger sign, but rather a harbinger of improving economic conditions and a strengthening recovery. And that, in turn, should lead to higher wages and more hiring in the year ahead.

It's no surprise that consumer prices are rising -- the prices of commodities from corn to cotton to copper are near record levels, thanks to shrinking supplies and rising demand worldwide. The question is whether the Fed will raise rates to combat this price inflation -- and whether it should.

Compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ECI usually gets little attention from the general media. Here's why it's a statistic worth tracking: Its current tiny increases are helping keep inflation in check and allowing the Fed to stick to its stimulative policies.