*By Michael Teich*
Corporate shareholders may [benefit](https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/16/investing/stock-buybacks-tax-law-bonuses/index.html) from tax cuts, but American workers aren't really profiting, said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.
"It's globalization, the ability of employers to [replace labor](https://cheddar.com/videos/selerity-exec-a-i-in-finance-will-shift-from-consumers-to-workers) with technology," Hamrick said Friday in an interview with Cheddar. "Workers are not getting the bulk of these tax cuts. Workers have perhaps some appropriate reason to be a bit disappointed."
The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate in the U.S. dropped to 3.9 percent. But as unemployment falls, inflation is rising, and companies are squeamish about tariffs.
"Inflation has been running at an annual rate of about 2 percent, meaning that real wages are making little progress," Hamrick said.
Though average hourly earnings rose 2.7 percent for the second straight month, when inflation's factored in, workers are taking home less than a percent more in earnings.
Now is the time, Hamrick said, to save for retirement and emergencies.
The U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in July, missing estimates of 193,000 but marking the 94th consecutive month of growth.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-reason-youre-not-getting-a-raise).
Gannett has filed a civil lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet, claiming that they unlawfully hold monopolies in the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.
Apple, the tech giant, is trying to trademark images of apples, the fruit. The company has been pursuing the trademark since 2017, and its latest battleground is Switzerland, where its appealing a partial trademark that would only cover black-and-white depictions of Granny Smith apples.
India's IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus, the two companies said Monday, in a record-setting order that underscores surging demand for air travel fueled by the country's economic growth.
China’s Alibaba Group has announced a major management reshuffle as the e-commerce giant restructures into six different business divisions to adapt to fast-changing technologies.
Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe.
