Last week, Walmart, America’s largest employer, announced plans to increase its minimum wage to $11 and provide a one-time cash bonus of $1,000 to eligible employees. It is one of nearly 200 companies, including major employers like American Airlines, AT&T, and Bank of America, to have given such bonuses, citing the lift from tax cuts. One reason stocks have done so well during a fairly ho-hum economic expansion is that wages have risen only modestly relative to profits. When a business as labor-intensive as retail becomes...

Source: Wall Street Journal January 21, 2018 15:00 UTC