Pay gap widens between workers and chief executives
Although a hot job market pushed up pay for low-wage workers, the average pay gap between those workers and the chief executives of their companies widened even more last year.
The median pay for workers at companies that tend to pay low wages last year was up by 17%, to $24,000, a jump that more than doubled the rate of inflation, according to a study out Tuesday from the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank.
The report examined pay at companies including Lowe’s, Target, Best Buy and Amazon.
Still, those rising wages did not outpace those corporations’ CEO pay gains, which rose by 31%, to an average of $10.6 million.
“We do have to acknowledge there was some good news last year,” said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the “Executive Excess” study.
“But this could have been a time when companies used rising profits to level the pay playing field. Instead, we haven’t seen a very big shift in pay equity.”
The study underscores the tight labor market and inflationary pressure that companies have been facing over the past year.
That pressure has benefited lower-wage workers for the first time in years.
The institute’s study last year, which looked at a different set of companies, found that median pay for all workers fell by 2% in 2020.
EU to require common charger for all devices
The European Union on Tuesday reached an agreement that will require all new smartphones, tablets and laptops to use a common charger by 2026.
The policy is an attempt to address the well-known consumer frustration of having a drawer full of chargers – some for Apple devices, others for portable speakers or hand-held gaming systems.
It represented an unusual level of involvement by a government regulator in product design decisions.
Policymakers said the move would cut down on electronic waste.
But the new law had been opposed by companies including Apple, which said that it would prevent new charging technologies from developing.
Under the law, a European standards body would be in charge of considering future charger designs for all devices.
By 2024, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, handheld video game devices, headphones, portable speakers, keyboards, mice, earbuds and other portable devices will need USB-C charging ports, the European Commission announced. By 2026, the law will apply to laptops.
Companies will also be required to sell devices without a charger to reduce the number of chargers in circulation.
The European Commission, the executive body of the 27-nation bloc, said that discarded and unused chargers produced 11,000 tons of waste each year.
Stocks rise for second day based on late rally
U.S. stocks rose for a second day, climbing to session highs in the last hour of trading amid a broad-based rally. Treasuries pared gains and the dollar slipped.
Back-to-back gains in the S&P 500 clawed back all of last week’s losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 advanced with megacaps Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. offsetting declines in ecommerce giant Amazon.com Inc.
Consumer discretionary stocks led declines throughout the day, with Target Corp. falling after the retailer cut its profit outlook for the second time in three weeks amid an inventory surplus.
Sentiment whipsawed for much of the day with traders hesitant to take on risk amid concern monetary tightening by Federal Reserve will stifle growth.
But that changed in late trading as buyers emerged across the equity market, with 10 of the 11 sectors in the S&P advancing and the Russell 2000 of smallcaps climbing more than 1.5%.
Ahead of U.S. consumer price data later this week, uncertainty about the outlook has led to a back and forth between stocks and bonds, which saw equities rally as 10-year yields held below 3%.
From wire reports
“The yield on the 10-year note fell back below 3%, so it seems like the stock market is very focused on the Treasury market this week,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co.
“I’m not so sure that the 3% level is as important as the stock market does this week, but with no Fed speak this week and the CPI number not due out until Friday, we could see stocks whip around in both directions for a few days.”
The inflation reading for May due Friday may help traders discern the Fed’s rate path and whether it will continue to hike in 50-basis point increments. Strong hiring data last week provided some justification for an aggressive approach.