The government said that average hourly earnings -- another way of saying wages -- rose 2.4% over the past 12 months.Â
That's a slip from the 2.9% increase reported in SeptemberÂ
And it remains below the 3% to 3.5% range that many agree is normal in a truly healthy economy.Â
The last time wages were up more than 3% year-over-year was in April 2009Â
ust as the economy was emerging from the depths of the global banking crisis that fueled the Great Recession.Â
John Bellows, a portfolio manager at Western Asset, thinks there a couple of things at play.
That's why Bellows and others think lawmakers and President Trump need to take action to improve American wages.