Real Earnings: A Real Increase
From yesterday’s Real Earnings announcement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Real average weekly earnings rose by 1.0 percent from August to September after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. This increase stemmed from a 0.2 percent rise in average hourly earnings and a 0.7 percent decline in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Average weekly hours were unchanged.
The Consumer Price Index (separate announcement here) dropped so much because of falling gas prices. Excluding food and energy, CPI was up 0.2% in September, and has gone up 2.9% in the past year. That’s a little higher than most economists would like to see, but not out of control.
This may be dismissed as a one-month shot in the arm, but what a shot.
