Every Worker In America Should Love This Chart
Job Openings vs. Wages
The above chart is a chart that should warm the hearts of every worker in America.
The red line shows the percentage of jobs that are unfilled.
The green line is the year over year change wages of the average worker.
As you can see, the red line is starting to surge (indicating more demand for labor, and a harder time among workers trying to find work). Historically this translates into wage gains, and for obvious reasons: If you have job openings piling up, you're going to have to increase wages to fill them.
So if you're a worker, you should be glad: Your bargaining power is on the rise.
Of course, this latest bit of evidence is just one piece of a larger mosaic indicating that higher wages for workers are on the way.
Just this morning, a survey from the National Federation Of Independent Business provided evidence for coming wage gains.
As you can see in the thin dark line here, the number of companies with plans to raise wages has hit its highest level since the crisis.
NFIB
Elsewhere the survey provided evidence that "Labor Quality" was growing as a problem for companies, which also speaks to the need for companies to increase wages.
But what's good news for workers may not be good for the capital class. Accelerating wages is what could cause the Fed to get nervous, and begin tapping on the breaks, slamming stocks.