Moving the Market -- MoneyBeat: Wall Street Speaks Up for Workers
Investors aren't heartless, but they usually don't mind when workers' pay doesn't rise quickly.</br></br>That is because slow wage increases, while painful on an individual level, usually keep corporate profits high and inflation low, creating better opportunities for shareholders.</br></br>And yet, as if anyone needed further proof that we live in exceptional times, Wall Street is starting to complain that wages are too low.</br></br>"Without a real acceleration in wages it is hard to get a meaningful pickup in consumer spending," explained Michelle Meyer, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.</br></br>Weak consumer spending holds back profits and economic growth, one reason stock gains this year have been soft. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at records on Friday, but the Dow is up only 2.1% for 2014, and the S&P is up just 5.5%.