Hey, the Stock Market is at a New High!

Too bad that is meaningless to most people.



The economy is just fine however (if you're a CEO)...

The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio in the U.S. has grown from 107-to-1 in 1990 to 411-to-1 in 2005, according to a report by United for a Fair Economy, a nonprofit group in Boston that studies economic inequality. "If the minimum wage had risen at the same pace as CEO pay, it would now stand at $22.61 per hour, over four times the current $5.15," said Mike Lapham, project director of Responsible Wealth, an affiliate of United for a Fair Economy. "It's clearly out of control. We have a culture that says the CEO gets all of the credit."

However, if you're not a CEO...

Planned U.S. layoffs jumped 44 percent in April, led by a surge in financial sector job cuts after Citigroup announced it would eliminate 17,000 positions, an independent report showed on Wednesday.

Truck manufacturer Freightliner LLC said Monday it would lay off up to 1,528 workers at its assembly plant north of Charlotte in July.

Newisys Inc., a subsidiary of a California electronics maker, is closing its doors and laying off 87 local employees.

Trinity Industries Inc. confirmed Monday it laid off workers at its Standard Forged Products axle plant in Johnstown last week, but would not comment on the number of employees out of work.

LendingTree has laid off 20 percent of its work force nationwide, with some of the cuts coming from its office in Irvine. The online lending and realty-services exchange, which has 2,200 employees, cites the slump in the mortgage industry.

Advanced Micro Devices said Wednesday that it cut 430 jobs, or 2.6 percent of its global workforce, in an effort to reduce costs and battle intense competition from Intel.

Windsor Foods laid off 50 Albuquerque workers Thursday.

ImpacMortgage Holdings Inc. became the latest local lender to falter amid rising loan delinquencies Wednesday as the company laid off 120 workers in Orange County.

The OC Register's "running list" of OC Mortgage-related layoffs.

Lennar Homes, developers of two housing developments in Loveland, laid off 76 workers last week, essentially pulling out of Northern Colorado's slow housing market.

Unifi Inc. laid off 45 management employees in April, just a week before it announced it would shut down a South Carolina plant it had bought at the beginning of the year.

Financially strapped subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial failed to receive any bids for its mortgage loan origination business, forcing it to shut down the unit and lay off about 2,000 employees.

Clover Technologies Group LLC, a manufacturer and distributor of printing supplies such as laser toner and inkjet cartridges, will close its Louisville plant next month. The plant's 75 employees will be laid off, effective June 29, according to a notice filed with the Kentucky Division of Workforce and Employment Services.

State Street and Investors Financial Services gave the ax to about 450 employees yesterday in what is expected to be the first wave of layoffs resulting from the planned merger of the two Boston financial giants.

Ford Motor Co.'s financial troubles claimed more victims Monday when the struggling company announced that it will close a casting plant near Cleveland in 2009, costing 1,100 hourly workers their jobs.

DiVosta Building Corp. says today it’s laying off 42 people, the homebuilder’s third round of layoffs in recent months. In December, DiVosta told the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation that it would fire 218 of its 552 workers. And on April 30, it announced nine layoffs.

So, CEO's make 411 times what the average worker does, and layoffs are surging, so it's a good thing that the government is reporting today that "the consumer price index rose 0.4 percent after rising 0.6 percent in March, while core prices - which exclude food and energy - rose 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent gain."

If inflation (when you take out unnecessary stuff like food and energy) is only running at 2.4%, then that $5.15 an hour goes a lot further.

Unfortunately real-world inflation (i.e., if you buy more food and gas than pocket calculators) is running around 11%.