Round Four?

In a report that sounded like the bell for a fourth round of wage boosts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said last week that factory wages since V-J day had increased an average of 33% an hour and 30% a week but that “rising prices have more than offset the increase.” But the New York Times thought BLS had let go a low blow. It thought wages and purchasing power should be compared with those of January, 1941 (the base date of the Little Steel formula). “We find,” said the Times, “that while the cost of living has risen 73%, average hourly earnings are up 95%, average weekly earnings 98%.”