Workers' Dismal Paychecks

Around the nation, from big companies like Microsoft to smaller operations like the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, workers are seeing their hours and pay reduced and coping with forced furloughs. According to statistics assembled by The Washington Post, a third of Americans say "they or someone in their household has had their hours or pay cut in the past few months." Though wages have not begun falling, their rate of growth has shrunken to the smallest amount since 1982. The forced furloughs and fewer hours add insult to injury for workers, as most of them have seen their home values and investments in the stock market plummet. And the real bummer? Don't expect all this to be a distant memory anytime soon. "Once the recession ends, economists expect, the recovery will be long and slow, with sluggish job creation," The Post reports.