In fact, the richest 1 percent of Americans have captured 121 percent of the income gains achieved during the current recovery, meaning everyone else has actually lost ground in terms of income since the economy bottomed out.

The path charted by United Technologies, an industrial giant based in Hartford that is one of 30 companies in the Dow, underscores why corporate profits and share prices continue to rise in a lackluster economy and a stagnant job market. Simply put, United Technologies does not need as many workers as it once did to churn out higher sales and profits.



Right now, C.E.O.s are saying, I dont really need to hire because of the productivity gains of the last few years, said Robert E. Moritz, chairman of the accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.



At 218,300 employees, United Technologies work force is virtually unchanged from seven years ago, even though annual revenue soared to $57.7 billion in 2012 from $42.7 billion in 2005.



The relentless focus on maintaining margins continues, even though profit and revenue have never been higher; four days after the companys shares soared past $90 to a record high last month, United Technologies confirmed it would eliminate an additional 3,000 workers this year, on top of 4,000 let go in 2012 as part a broader restructuring effort.

But, apparently, Job Creators aren't creating jobs despite record profits because, well, they can make more money just keeping the extra worker productivity and working them harder.