Wages shrink for state's middle-income workers

Workers in both the upper- and lower-income brackets have had their wages increase, while those in the middle have seen continued declines. Above, job seekers browse booths at a job fair in Anaheim last year. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)California's job market is among the fastest-growing in the nation, and the state's unemployment rate is at one of its the lowest levels in seven years.

But the state's middle-income earners continued to see their wages decline in 2014, according to new research — evidence that a crucial segment of the workforce is still falling behind.

Wages for the typical worker in California — those who earn $19.18 an hour, or about $39,800 a year — are still 1.8%…