:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Thursday, December 25, 2003 ::

When Paycheck Is Low, Discount Retailers Have Pull:

" Living from paycheck to paycheck is the norm in the United States, economists say, and Wal-Mart's cash registers offer some proof of that. For more than a year, the retailer says, it has detected spikes in sales twice a month, around the 1st and the 15th, which is about the time that many people are paid. "

"'Even though you can point to improving economic indicators, one conspicuous omission from that list is wage growth,' said Jared Bernstein, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute, a research group in Washington. 'And that's where most working families meet the economy.' "

:: Jim Nichols 12/25/2003 02:17:00 PM [+] ::
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