LANSING – March saw the steepest decline in automotive manufacturing wages since 2009, the Senate Fiscal Agency said in its Economic Indicators report issued Monday.
The report showed wages for auto workers dropped more than 20 percent in March, close to the wage drop seen in January 2009. But unlike that drop at the beginning of the Great Recession, the report showed hours worked dropped less than 15 percent. Workers in 2009 saw their hours cut by about 20 percent as well.
It was the second straight month for such earnings cuts, the report showed. February’s decline was smaller, but still more than 20 percent.
The report said revised numbers showed only a 0.8 percent gross domestic product increase for first quarter 2016, compared to 1.4 percent in fourth quarter 2015.
The report also noted a 5.5 percent drop in light vehicle sales from February to March.
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