The Aporia · It’s a Bad Time to Be an American Worker

It’s a Bad Time to Be an American Worker

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APA MLA Chicago

Hurwitz, S. (2026, September 9). It’s a Bad Time to Be an American Worker. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/its-a-bad-time-to-be-an-american-worker/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Economist Joseph McCartin notes it's disturbing for workers to see the share of economic growth going into their pocketbooks at an all-time low. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 52.8 percent of wealth now goes to workers, a decrease from about 65 percent immediately following World War II. Corporate profits are at a record high, while worker earnings have only increased by 12.5 percent over the past two decades. The trend has been building for 50 years, long before the current economic boom fueled by AI and other factors.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-09, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Since the start of this century, the S&P 500 stock index has gained about 600%, while inflation-adjusted worker earnings have climbed just 12.5% over the same period. This means that only 52.8% of economic growth translates to worker compensation, which is the lowest level ever recorded, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, after World War II, when the government began collecting data, workers took home about 65% of the wealth generated by economic growth. Despite this trend, corporate profits are at a record high, and many Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities like food and rent, with some even using credit or "buy now, pay later" loans to make ends meet.

Written for “Decline of the US Middle Class” on 2026-10-24, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Labor Day: How Political and Economic Freedom Are Linked different event · 90%

The Bulwark

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 25

“Article A describes a speech by FDR on September 6, 1936, while Article B mentions current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, without any connection to FDR's speech.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

17%

2 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

95/100

Mother Jones's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Economy/Business

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Mother Jones · 360 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected

No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Sophie Hurwitz

37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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Also by Sophie Hurwitz

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2026-10-23 · Mother Jones

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2026-10-20 · Mother Jones

Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government Action

2026-10-17 · Mother Jones

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 37 articles by Sophie Hurwitz →

Topics

Americans Georgetown University NBC News World War II the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Subjects

Americans NORP · 1× Georgetown University ORG · 1× Joseph McCartin PERSON · 1× NBC News ORG · 1× Rob Wile PERSON · 1× Talking Points Memo ORG · 1× Trump PERSON · 1× the Bureau of Labor Statistics ORG · 1×

Narrative

New data released this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the share of economic growth that translates to worker compensation is now at the lowest level ever recorded.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-09

🔮 There are a few different factors that might be blamed for this situation: corporate consolidation, tariff-related price-gouging, and the capital-intensive, labor-light AI boom among them.

2026-09-09 · Mother Jones

It’s a Bad Time to Be an American Worker · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 2 hedged)

It’s the day after Labor Day, and it’s not a great day to be a worker. asserted

it → ’ → Day

New data released this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the share of economic growth that translates to worker compensation is now at the lowest level ever recorded. asserted

that → release → level

Now, 52.8 percent of that wealth goes into workers’ pocketbooks. asserted

percent → go → pocketbooks

For comparison, that number—known to economists as the “labor share”—was at about 65 percent immediately following World War II, when the government began collecting data. asserted

government → know → data

“Since approximately the start of this century, the S&P 500 stock index has gained about 600 percent,” as Rob Wile recently reported for NBC News. asserted

Wile → gain → News

“Over the same period, inflation-adjusted worker earnings have climbed just 12.5 percent.” asserted

earnings → adjust → period

Many Americans, meanwhile, are doing things like buying groceries on credit and taking out “buy now, pay later” loans to afford electricity or rent. asserted

Americans → do → electricity

There are a few different factors that might be blamed for this situation: corporate consolidation, tariff-related price-gouging, and the capital-intensive, labor-light AI boom among them. uncertain

that → be → them

But this trend—GDP goes up, but workers take home a slimmer share of that money—has been building for fifty years, long before AI or the Trump presidency. asserted

workers → go → AI

“I think it’s really disturbing news for workers,” Joseph McCartin, professor of labor history at Georgetown University, told Talking Points Memo back in May, when the labor share hit 54.1 percent. uncertain

share → think → percent

In the intervening months, the labor share has plunged yet again. asserted

share → intervene → months

“It shows that even while the economy is growing, workers are getting a smaller and smaller share of the economic pie.” asserted

workers → show → pie