Yellen Wage Gauges Blurred by Boomer-Millennial Shift

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Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s focus on wages to help gauge the strength of the job market could need fine tuning as baby boomers approach the twilight of their careers and millennials jump in to fill the void.

As today’s middle-aged Americans grow older, they are leaving their prime working years behind, trading big salaries for part-time gigs or retirement, just as an even larger group of young people come into the labor force at entry-level salaries. The seismic shift may be one reason behind the sub-par wage growth that Yellen says still shows “significant slack” in the job market.