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Food and rent prices are definitely out of control, but wage growth actually outpaced inflation [1]. Whether wages outpaced real cost of living including local

Food and rent prices are definitely out of control, but wage growth actually outpaced inflation [1]. Whether wages outpaced real cost of living including local rents, I have my doubts given the widely reported fact that half of Americans can now not afford their rent using the standard 30% rule [2]. [1] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/workers-paychecks-are-growing-more-quickly-than-prices/ https://www.americanprogress.org/article/workers-paychecks-a... [2] https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/economy/rent-prices-dropping-2024-apartments/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/economy/rent-prices-dropping-...

leereeves 3y ago
Your first source doesn't really support its own headline. "Workers’ Paychecks Are Growing More Quickly Than Prices" becomes "most workers" in the subhead, then "57 percent" in the text. > 57 percent earned higher annual inflation-adjusted wages than the year before Which means 43 percent did not, which isn't that good. And the housing situation in particular is worse, when you consider that that year-over-year CPI increase was 3.1%, but "S&P Dow Jones Indices’ CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index rose 5.1%"[1] over the same time. IOW, most workers' wages have fallen relative to home prices. > Young adult workers ... have seen their real median wage rise 12 percent since the onset of the pandemic The CPI since early 2020 has risen about 20%, so those wages, before adjustment, must have risen about 35%. But "U.S. home prices are now up 45% since March 2020, the early days of the pandemic."[1] 1: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/us-home-prices-are-up-45-since-march-2020/ar-BB1hCI56 https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/us-home-prices-ar...
gottorf 3y ago
> wage growth actually outpaced inflation Other sources paint a different picture; real median personal income is flat[0] (really, within $60 a year), and real median household income is lower[1], compared to pre-pandemic. [0]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N [1]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N
- gruez 3y ago
  That looks at the income of all households. Boomers are retiring in droves, which drags the median down, and makes the number unrepresentative.

leereeves 3y ago

Your first source doesn't really support its own headline. "Workers’ Paychecks Are Growing More Quickly Than Prices" becomes "most workers" in the subhead, then "57 percent" in the text. > 57 percent earned higher annual inflation-adjusted wages than the year before Which means 43 percent did not, which isn't that good. And the housing situation in particular is worse, when you consider that that year-over-year CPI increase was 3.1%, but "S&P Dow Jones Indices’ CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index rose 5.1%"[1] over the same time. IOW, most workers' wages have fallen relative to home prices. > Young adult workers ... have seen their real median wage rise 12 percent since the onset of the pandemic The CPI since early 2020 has risen about 20%, so those wages, before adjustment, must have risen about 35%. But "U.S. home prices are now up 45% since March 2020, the early days of the pandemic."[1] 1: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/us-home-prices-are-up-45-since-march-2020/ar-BB1hCI56 https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/us-home-prices-ar...

gottorf 3y ago

> wage growth actually outpaced inflation Other sources paint a different picture; real median personal income is flat[0] (really, within $60 a year), and real median household income is lower[1], compared to pre-pandemic. [0]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N [1]: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA672N

gruez 3y ago
That looks at the income of all households. Boomers are retiring in droves, which drags the median down, and makes the number unrepresentative.