Liberal Forum

maineman » 07 Mar 2024, 1:15 pm » wrote: ↑

07 Mar 2024, 1:15 pm

and name a time in America when anything cost less than it did four years earlier.

That is the wrong question.  The issue is wages are not keeping up with inflation:


Although the inflation rate of increase is slowing down, it hasn't turned around completely. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the inflation rate was 8.5% in 2022 and 3.2% in 2023. When inflation rises, people spend more on items like gas and everyday groceries.

The impact of inflation on an employee's pay is direct and substantial. When inflation is high, the elevated costs of goods and services erode the purchasing power of your income. To illustrate, if inflation climbs to 8% while your pay remains the same as when it was 4%, you effectively experience a 4% reduction in real wages. This means that every dollar spent to counter the surge in purchase costs represents a dollar that could have otherwise been allocated to savings or discretionary expenses. It becomes crucial for employees that their pay keeps pace with inflation to prevent a scenario where households struggle to meet the costs of essential items.

Inflation Raises: Employer's Guide To Wage Adjustments | Paychex

And

Inflation has been outpacing wages for several years. Currently, the BLS estimates that wage growth won't match inflation until some point in the fourth quarter of 2024. The gap between wage growth and inflation was at its widest in the third quarter of 2022; prices had jumped 12.8% since the start of 2021, while wages had climbed a smaller 9.1%, a 3.7-point gap.3

Inflation Raises: Employer's Guide To Wage Adjustments | Paychex