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[quote]A small upward tick in wage growth for production and non-supervisory workers, but no change in overall wage growth, is evidence of a shift in relative demand not excess aggregate demand.[/quote] Wondering if there's another way to look at this too. Could that small upward tick might be only the consequence of companies paying $11/hr to get people with degrees, for their production and non-supervisory positions, rather than paying $9/hr & loosening up their ridiculously specific & demanding Great Recession era job requirements? I say this because I have kept a keen eye on the job ads over the course of, well, a couple of decades, and particularly the past 5 years. And the one difference of note I've seen between last year and this year... anecdotal & specific to my region, and mainly focusing on non-professional general jobs in general labor & general office clerical, which require a certain level of skill, certification, or experience, but do not require significant specialized training or higher education. (Example: machine operators, legal secretaries, accounts receivable bookkeepers, forklift operators, sales reps) There seem to be a few more job ads on average, this year than last. The job ads seem to be offering just slightly better pay than last year or especially the year before. The job ads seem to be more willing to advertise the pay of the jobs. (meaning the offers are better, but perhaps less negotiable) The job ads have perhaps slightly less "must have" requirements. (Slightly less meaning not totally ridiculous - like the ads I saw a couple of years ago requiring a 4-year degree in a field related to the industry, for a part-time receptionist @ $8.50/hr.) [u]The job ads however, have a much more robust, specific, and lengthy list of "preferred qualifications".[/u] Looks to me like they simply transferred the "requirements" to the "preferred" column, & upped the pay a few cents on average. Just my take on this of course... But it says to me that businesses, in general, when looking to fill non-professional positions, have been more willing to offer a tiny bit more money, but have been very reluctant to give up the overqualified applicants they were able to easily command during the height of unemployment. And I'd noticed this weeks ago, and had started forming that opinion, so that's naturally what I immediately thought about when reading - [i]"modest acceleration in wage growth for production non-supervisory workers in 2013"[/i] And then I'm thinking this seems like just more evidence to me, of a genuine perceived over-supply of highly educated workers disguised as a perceived need for highly educated workers. Throwing this out there, not as an explanation, nor as a refutation of the premise of this blog post topic, but in hopes that someone else will tell me what they think of my observations & wondering on this issue. - watermelonpunch