4 ms·

Hourly earning wages rose 5.2% year over year, and increased .5% month over month, beating expectations of 4.9% and .3%, respectively.

by jdhn 4y ago

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
Isn't this the fun with averages? The "great resignation" probably also caused an earnings bump for a lot of people, right? I know it did much more than 5.2% in my case, leaving room for new jobs with subpar wages for a few other people and it would still average out to that number.
weberer 4y ago
Inflation is at 9.1% right now, so its a net negative. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Is it net negative for everyone? Perhaps people at the bottom are positive and people above are net negative, i.e. reduction of income/wealth gap.
  - wahnfrieden 4y ago
    inflation hurts the poor and low income earners most, it widens the disparity gap
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      I do not see why this has to be true. Change in prices (inflation) is very different for different people or groups of people, because the goods and services they buy are very different.
      - ryathal 4y ago
        At the poorest levels wages are slowest to increase due to inflation, and there aren't cheaper beans and rice to buy at the grocery store. At the mid levels, maybe a cost of living raise eats half the current inflation, and switching to cheaper brand items can make up the difference. At the highest levels some may see inflation beating raises, have inflation protected assets, and have disposable income so inflation maybe means not going out to eat as much or not getting a new car.
        lotsofpulp 4y ago
        > At the poorest levels wages are slowest to increase due to inflation Why would this always have to be true? For example, if the supply of labor sellers at the bottom decreases due to decreasing birthrates, immigration, or people who are no longer employable due to drug addiction. It seems conceivable to me that the lowest paying jobs would have to contend with decreasing supply of labor by increasing the pay. Perhaps the increased pay then causes increased prices for goods/services which then cause sufficient decrease in aggregate demand that demand for the labor then starts decreasing so it pushes wages at the bottom back down , but I do no see why that has to be case.
        paulmd 4y ago
        > and there aren't cheaper beans and rice to buy at the grocery store I mean, this is a question of policy. The US Federal Government mandates that crops be burned as fuel, which hugely pushes up the price of corn and in turn that pushes up the price of other things that could be grown using that land. We don't explicitly buy up and destroy crops anymore, or pay farmers not to grow them, but the food supply is being deliberately contracted as a matter of federal policy to keep farming profits high. It seems bonkers to say that there's nothing we could do about rising food prices when we're literally paying to (from the perspective of the food supply) destroy food and keep it scarce.
        wahnfrieden 4y ago
        Extrapolate/compare generationally
      - 4y ago
  - moate 4y ago
    It's literally the opposite: https://www.fastcompany.com/90770163/the-age-of-greedflation-is-here-see-how-obscene-ceo-to-worker-pay-ratios-are-right-now https://www.fastcompany.com/90770163/the-age-of-greedflation...
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      That article is using median pay as the data point. It is possible the 0% to 20% or even 30% are experiencing gains, while 30% to 60% are not. It is hard or impossible to find data by income/wealth decile, and the corresponding change in prices (inflation) of that income/wealth decile's basket of goods.' For example, the people that work in retail/hotel/travel/etc sector that typically employs the lowest paid employees with the worst quality of life at work may very well be experiencing huge gains, although not all captured by wage data, such as better quality of life at work due to not having to work late weeknights or weekends, etc. It is a difficult thing to capture in numbers.
- xbar 4y ago
  Right. Perhaps individuals and families are having to do more work to try to climb out of an inflation hole. New jobs are good. 2nd, 3rd and 4th jobs in families to defeat that missing 4% is sub-optimal job growth due to a variety of trade-offs.

Hourly earning wages rose 5.2% year over year, and increased .5% month over month, beating expectations of 4.9% and .3%, respectively.

by jdhn 4y ago

Hourly earning wages rose 5.2% year over year, and increased .5% month over month, beating expectations of 4.9% and .3%, respectively.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago

Isn't this the fun with averages? The "great resignation" probably also caused an earnings bump for a lot of people, right? I know it did much more than 5.2% in my case, leaving room for new jobs with subpar wages for a few other people and it would still average out to that number.

weberer 4y ago

Inflation is at 9.1% right now, so its a net negative. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lotsofpulp 4y ago
Is it net negative for everyone? Perhaps people at the bottom are positive and people above are net negative, i.e. reduction of income/wealth gap.
- wahnfrieden 4y ago
  inflation hurts the poor and low income earners most, it widens the disparity gap
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I do not see why this has to be true. Change in prices (inflation) is very different for different people or groups of people, because the goods and services they buy are very different.
    - ryathal 4y ago
      At the poorest levels wages are slowest to increase due to inflation, and there aren't cheaper beans and rice to buy at the grocery store. At the mid levels, maybe a cost of living raise eats half the current inflation, and switching to cheaper brand items can make up the difference. At the highest levels some may see inflation beating raises, have inflation protected assets, and have disposable income so inflation maybe means not going out to eat as much or not getting a new car.
      - lotsofpulp 4y ago
        > At the poorest levels wages are slowest to increase due to inflation Why would this always have to be true? For example, if the supply of labor sellers at the bottom decreases due to decreasing birthrates, immigration, or people who are no longer employable due to drug addiction. It seems conceivable to me that the lowest paying jobs would have to contend with decreasing supply of labor by increasing the pay. Perhaps the increased pay then causes increased prices for goods/services which then cause sufficient decrease in aggregate demand that demand for the labor then starts decreasing so it pushes wages at the bottom back down , but I do no see why that has to be case.
      - paulmd 4y ago
        > and there aren't cheaper beans and rice to buy at the grocery store I mean, this is a question of policy. The US Federal Government mandates that crops be burned as fuel, which hugely pushes up the price of corn and in turn that pushes up the price of other things that could be grown using that land. We don't explicitly buy up and destroy crops anymore, or pay farmers not to grow them, but the food supply is being deliberately contracted as a matter of federal policy to keep farming profits high. It seems bonkers to say that there's nothing we could do about rising food prices when we're literally paying to (from the perspective of the food supply) destroy food and keep it scarce.
      - wahnfrieden 4y ago
        Extrapolate/compare generationally
    - 4y ago
- moate 4y ago
  It's literally the opposite: https://www.fastcompany.com/90770163/the-age-of-greedflation-is-here-see-how-obscene-ceo-to-worker-pay-ratios-are-right-now https://www.fastcompany.com/90770163/the-age-of-greedflation...
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    That article is using median pay as the data point. It is possible the 0% to 20% or even 30% are experiencing gains, while 30% to 60% are not. It is hard or impossible to find data by income/wealth decile, and the corresponding change in prices (inflation) of that income/wealth decile's basket of goods.' For example, the people that work in retail/hotel/travel/etc sector that typically employs the lowest paid employees with the worst quality of life at work may very well be experiencing huge gains, although not all captured by wage data, such as better quality of life at work due to not having to work late weeknights or weekends, etc. It is a difficult thing to capture in numbers.
xbar 4y ago
Right. Perhaps individuals and families are having to do more work to try to climb out of an inflation hole. New jobs are good. 2nd, 3rd and 4th jobs in families to defeat that missing 4% is sub-optimal job growth due to a variety of trade-offs.