- Corporations are raising prices faster than they’re raising the wages paid to their workers, despite realizing record profit rates. Inflation is taking a big chunk — eroding those “so-called” raises.
- The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation measure, had jumped 7% in December since the year before, said the Department of Labor — the fastest rate hike since June 1982.
- “In what was the best year for wage growth that we have seen in many, many years, it still comes up as a loss for many households,” said the chief financial analyst for Bankrate.
Greg Iacurci from CNBC writes:
“Inflation is taking a big bite out of workers’ paychecks, eroding many of the raises businesses have offered to attract and keep employees in a hot job market.
But strong wage growth in certain sectors, such as hotels and restaurants, has eclipsed those consumer price leaps — at least for now.
The biggest raises have come in some of the country’s lowest-paying jobs, helping insulate cash-strapped households from rising prices for staples like food.
The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation measure, jumped 7% in December from a year ago, the fastest rate since June 1982, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday.
The index accounts for costs across many goods and services, from alcohol to fruit, airfare, firewood, hospital services and musical instruments. On average, a consumer who paid $100 a year ago would pay $107 today…”
See full story here.
Categories: Business, Economy, Government, Labor, Society
Economic Left 
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