Many of our overall indicators are percolating along just fine, but the growth continues to elude many working families, especially those in the middle and low end.

[Yet this peppering of data notwithstanding, economists are not too sanguine about the immediate prospects for income growth on the bottom rungs of the wage scale.] The job market is slowly tightening, ... We are wringing out the slack. But we're only six months into a process that could take a year and a half.

We are in the midst of a protracted wage slump, ... a troubling trend that is largely going unnoticed by policymakers.

This decline [in the jobless rate] is certainly the largest drop we've seen in recent months, so it does suggest a stronger labor market than we expected.

The problem isn't simply that families are facing higher prices, particularly at the pump. It's also that they're facing lower wages. If wages were keeping pace with inflation, the pinch wouldn't be as hard.

The job market is slowly tightening. We are wringing out the slack. But we're only six months into a process that could take a year and a half.