Real Hourly Wages, Up Seven Lousy CentsÂ
While Washington and the press continue to obsess over the abortion issue, the consumer price index came in hot in March, for the third straight month, reports the WSJ.
The CPI rose 0.4% in March for the second month in a row after a 0.3% increase in January. Three months is more than a blip in the data, and the price index for the last 12 months has now climbed back to 3.5%.
Shelter and gasoline contributed more than half of the increase in March, which causes some analysts to dismiss the CPI rebound. But rent increases and gas prices are costs that consumers feel acutely.
President Biden claimed in a statement that “wages are rising faster than prices,” which is barely true over the last year though not over the last two months. The real average hourly wage in constant 1982-1984 dollars was $11.11 in March, up from $11.04 a year earlier. Seven lousy cents. Since Mr. Biden took office in January 2021, average hourly earnings after inflation are down 2.54%.
“Fighting Inflation,” Biden’s Top Priority
Who, asks the WSJ, is the Joe Biden kidding?
(President Joe Biden’s) real priority is to keep the government and consumer spending spigot wide open with subsidies galore for electronic vehicles, student-loan write-offs and social welfare. His other main priority is using regulation to put government in control of more of the economy. None of this restrains prices.
Blame the CompaniesÂ
Mr. Biden also took his usual turn blaming inflation on companies for raising prices, as if they don’t have to cover their own rising costs to stay in business. And he blamed Republicans in Congress for wanting to “slash taxes,” as if that has anything to do with the price increases of the last four years.
Biden-omics
If voters are downbeat about the economy, persistent inflation is a good reason, argues the WSJ.
Price increases across the Biden Presidency are unlike anything Americans have seen in recent decades. They have been a particular shock for low-income and younger workers who haven’t accumulated a wealth cushion in the stock market or housing values.
President Joe Biden is the main architect of his inflation problem—and America’s.
