Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is pleased that you have recognized that, despite the recent increase in jobs, American workers' wages have stagnated and they have not shared in the overall economic gains. The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly "Employment Situation" report, released last week, documents this clearly. It shows that the purchasing power of hourly wages of the production and non-supervisory work force has barely kept up with inflation. The June 2005 (constant dollar) hourly wage for these workers, who make up 80% of the work force, was identical to the comparable figure of a year ago.

This stagnation of purchasing power for millions of workers has been a blot on our economic well being for decades. The real hourly wages for current production and non-supervisory workers are virtually the same as they were during the last years of the 1970's. Aggressive support for strong policies to boost living standards unfortunately has not been the high priority of this Administration.