real cost of living

[yoshomon]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/06/13/cmcostofliving113.xml

Does anyone have numbers like this for the US?

[Marlowe]

expected inflation for 2008 is 4.0% in the US

[akip]

they've been talking about it for a while:

washington post: inflation target may be shifting (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062601189.html)

but here's the more recent inclusive detail:

consumer price index: may 2008 (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm)

[SheepNutz]

expected inflation for 2008 is 4.0% in the US

Yay for that 1% raise that us KY state employees get.

[yoshomon]

Yay for that 1% raise that us KY state employees get.

aka a pay cut.

[SheepNutz]

aka a pay cut.

Exactly. State employees by law are supposed to get 5% every year, but it can be amended each year, and always is. I've never seen 5% since I've been working for the state (I think I got 3% once!), and I doubt I ever will.

[DaHood]

Exactly. State employees by law are supposed to get 5% every year, but it can be amended each year, and always is. I've never seen 5% since I've been working for the state (I think I got 3% once!), and I doubt I ever will.That shit pisses me off. Raise my ass...

I've taken actual pay CUTS and I expect to get another in the near future.

[watusi]

Exactly. State employees by law are supposed to get 5% every year, but it can be amended each year, and always is. I've never seen 5% since I've been working for the state (I think I got 3% once!), and I doubt I ever will.

I went through the same thing working for Montgomery County:

Wage Freeze

Parking Fees

Mandatory Union Dues


That was 3 "pay cuts" in one year. I was going broke working there. Thats why I got back into manufacturing.

[frizgolf]

That shit pisses me off. Raise my ass...

I've taken actual pay CUTS and I expect to get another in the near future.

Nothing like getting your pay 'restructured' as the economy weakens. I've had that enough times while working in the private sector.
Now that I'm a county employee, I occasionally see COLA raises and cringe when long-time employees gripe about the times we don't get 'em. Trust me, the private sector is worse. It's rare to find a private employer who gives regular reviews and cost-of-living adjustments.
I work for the County Engineer. Their revenue stream is through gas taxes and license plate fees. The plate fees have not increased in over 20 years, and right-of-way acquisition costs are accelerating. The office of the Engineer hasn't seen a raise in years; why should I expect one? Yet, he's seen fit to give us one from time to time. That's better than the lack of attention I always saw while working in the private sector.
It's been news for a couple decades. U.S. manufacturing jobs are disappearing overseas, and we're becoming a service-oriented economy. The U.S. as a whole will continue to take a hit. As long as we're all in the same boat, costs for necessities will have to follow as people prune back their views of what is or isn't a necessity. I have my list of things to go if/when inflation rages again. Cable. Cell phone. The convertible. Traveling to golf tournaments.
I did it before, and I can do it again. As long as I can afford ramen noodles and PB&J, I'll live.

[DaHood]

It isn't so much the cut itself that pisses me off. It's the rhetoric like "3% raise". 3% isn't a raise. We get COLA but that's been cut in the past. I expect a $5/hr pay cut soon. So what. I make enough that I can deal with it. Just stop the lies.

[classicgrrl]

Nothing like getting your pay 'restructured' as the economy weakens. I've had that enough times while working in the private sector.
Now that I'm a county employee, I occasionally see COLA raises and cringe when long-time employees gripe about the times we don't get 'em. Trust me, the private sector is worse. It's rare to find a private employer who gives regular reviews and cost-of-living adjustments.
I work for the County Engineer. Their revenue stream is through gas taxes and license plate fees. The plate fees have not increased in over 20 years, and right-of-way acquisition costs are accelerating. The office of the Engineer hasn't seen a raise in years; why should I expect one? Yet, he's seen fit to give us one from time to time. That's better than the lack of attention I always saw while working in the private sector.
It's been news for a couple decades. U.S. manufacturing jobs are disappearing overseas, and we're becoming a service-oriented economy. The U.S. as a whole will continue to take a hit. As long as we're all in the same boat, costs for necessities will have to follow as people prune back their views of what is or isn't a necessity. I have my list of things to go if/when inflation rages again. Cable. Cell phone. The convertible. Traveling to golf tournaments.
I did it before, and I can do it again. As long as I can afford ramen noodles and PB&J, I'll live.

I work for the private sector. I get 3% at best and this year I cannot get more than 2% with a perfect review and to boot I have been written up again for stuff I cannot control and stand to lose my job by August 14.

I would MURDER someone for a government position.

[Marlowe]

I would MURDER someone for a government position.
if you murder someone, you'll get your wish and will have a government position making license plates for 20-to-life at the pincely sum of $0.18/hour. ;)

inflation is a problem around the world this year, and in countries like US, china, australia, hong kong, the UK and germany, the average merit increase for multinationals is less than the inflation rate. on average merit budgets for multinationals tend to be higher than inflation by 1-2%, but not every year.

the 'real' wage increase (increase less inflation) is most-closely correlated to the long-term productivity increase rate of a given country.

[Marlowe]

Has anybody heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? (http://woxy.com/boards/showpost.php?p=1245149&postcount=28)

well, i'm certainly not immune to the Dun-Krug effect, but among my job duties at the company i work for, is approving merit budgets for the 22 countries in asia in which my company does business. to prepare for that, i studied the confluence of the following factors: the projected market movement of wages in each country in the IT industry, the current market competitiveness of our employees versus the market, year-over-year changes in company variables such as attrition and internal annual employee poll results, and year-over-year macroeconomic variables such as inflation, unemployment rate and gdp growth.

so at least in this instance i know whereof i speak.

[classicgrrl]

if you murder someone, you'll get your wish and will have a government position making license plates for 20-to-life at the pincely sum of $0.18/hour. ;)
.

I would also be housed, fed, and clothed for free and be able to pursure my Ph.d.

freedom is over rated.

[frizgolf]

I work for the private sector. I get 3% at best and this year I cannot get more than 2% with a perfect review and to boot I have been written up again for stuff I cannot control and stand to lose my job by August 14.

I would MURDER someone for a government position.

I used to say the same thing until this job fell in my lap.
I gotta remind myself of this sentiment every time I get grumpy about my work.

[akip]

i don't think i'd like the bureaucratic environment of a govt job. but i guess they're the last hold out of job stability. large corporations are moving more positions overseas and small businesses fail at a high rate, pay less and offer fewer benefits.

[frizgolf]

i don't think i'd like the bureaucratic environment of a govt job. but i guess they're the last hold out of job stability. large corporations are moving more positions overseas and small businesses fail at a high rate, pay less and offer fewer benefits.

Yeah, it's a trade-off.
I had job instability for much too long. 19 jobs since high school.
Now that the job security's good, individual employees' needs fall down the priority list behind budget/election cycles.
I'm falling way behind the technology out there. We're doing as much as we can on the cheap. In private sector jobs I've had, I could get instant tech upgrades. Here, I keep hearing "maybe".

[akip]

freedom is over rated.

i know you like nonfiction---you should read "high wire" by peter gosselin.