Sunday, July 17, 2016

Yup. You're Losing Ground

Kinda think, back-of-the-envelope, that you're losing ground in the "buying-stuff" department?

That's because you are.

...According to the Labor Department, core inflation (i.e., prices with food and energy costs omitted, since they’re exceptionally volatile) rose 2.26 percent between June, 2015 and last month. How did inflation-adjusted wages do for the private sector? They rose only by 1.52 percent....

So for every price increase of $9.00, you saw a wage increase of $6.00.

...Workers did a little better between the previous Junes. Core inflation increased by 1.76 percent, and their price-adjusted wages improved by 1.84 percent....

Did that cheer you up a bit?  Well, then, read this part:

But between June, 2013 and June, 2014, the story was substantially different. While core prices were increasing by 1.96 percent, real wages weren’t increasing at all. That is, they were completely flat....;

OK, then.  The ObozoConomy!!

(Here's the most intriguing--and sadly, un-explored--factoid in the piece:

...(The Labor Department doesn’t include government workers’ wages in these statistics, since they’re determined by politicians’ decisions, not by the fundamental state of the economy.)...

Wouldn't it be interesting to know THOSE numbers??)

Paul Ryan will read the above Labor Department numbers and come to the conclusion that we need a helluvalot more un-skilled immigrants.  Obozo will lie like Hell about the stats.  Silicon Valley and Microsoft will tell you that 'now you can get cheaper computers!!'

But in flyover country, the rebellion is only beginning--because Trump or Hildebeeste are NOT the answers. 

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