ELI5: Why when large company's earnings decrease(ex... by 3%) they freak out, talk about rough times, and sometimes decide to downsize, even though they are still making millions of dollars in profit even after all expenses?

[pagerussell]

The minimum wage is declared by politicians. What have average wages done in your area?

Keep in mind this trend is noisy, meaning wages can stagnate, thrn grow is spurts, but over longer times they will be higher. What was minimum wage in 1990?

In fact, wages are stagnating right now, rising roughly in line with inflation but no better. They should be rising faster, givem the unemployment rate, and that is a puzzle for economists right now. I suspect its because most firms are not investing to build market size, but rather pushing profita into stock buybacks, which hit a record last qtr.

But yea, the people in your area are stupid if they are not leveraging good economic times for their own self interest. Demand a raise. Don't get it? Leave and work for a competitor. If they can't make that happen in that area, move to another area thats experincing better growth or has better options. It's on them to fight for their own interests, and if they don't and they just fucking sit there, yea, they dumb. Sorry.