Excellent explanation by @TUD6zHt-1jve, thought it deserved its own thread:
And the crappy part is even with all the layoffs, outsourcing, factories to mexico our U.S. numbers are still down. It's third grade math. Example.... We make a cookie for a $1.50. and sell it for $2.00. Assume we get a cost of living raise, now the profit is down to $.45. Insurance for health and vehicles went up again as it always does. Now we're down to $.38. Commodities and fuel also went up. Ok, now it's $.32. Oh, and don't forget our competitors don't have all the overhead we have so theirs are cheaper. Now we have to lower the price even more just to stay somewhat competitive. Now we are at $.26. And lets say customer used to buy 1000 of them but because people are becoming more health conscious they are only buying 800. See how easy it is? Right now we're doing pretty good over sea's but not so much here.