Total compensation for workers—wages plus benefits—rose in Q1:
Total comp came to $46.14 per hour. Wages and salaries clocked in at $31.72.
This is good news all around. Compensation was up 2.6% at an annualized rate, which is good for workers. But it's slowed down from 3.8% over the past year, which is good news for the Fed.
If I read this right it means that people are making as much today as they made when the federal government was supplementing their income with thousands of dollars.
"Well yabbut something something interest rates something inflation something still better under Trump."
... which of course has nothing at all to do with:
Real Wages Go Still Higher
As Inflation Rate Declines
Why This Is Bad For Biden
A Times Panel Discussion
It would be funny if this wasn’t more true than not.
Graphs, schmaphs. Kevin clearly hasn't interviewed enough random dudes in diners or wherever, where inflation is worse than 1920s Germany, unemployment is 10x higher than in the Great Depression, and wages have like fallen 200%. That's right. People are literally paying their employers twice what they once earned just to show up. And don't get them started on the price of eggs. The other day there was totally this one store selling individual eggs for $50.
Now please excuse them. They're in a rush because they're taking their family of six to Disneyland for the weekend in a brand new king-size pickup.
Sounds like a family headed by one of those "Quiverfull" women: "My jeans [sic] are obviously superior. God told me so."
'This is good news all around.
Sounds like a very opportune time for Biden to deliver it. Here's some good advice:
https://thehill.com/opinion/4721551-biden-needs-a-new-economic-distress-message/
"A new national poll for The Economist indicates that barely over a third of the voters and only a quarter of independent voters approve of President Biden’s handling of jobs and the economy. That’s after he’s created more than 15 million jobs during his presidency. Are Americans ingrates? No. Does the Biden campaign need to do a better job of selling his economic messages? Yes."
"The Biden economic message is a laundry list full of facts and figures designed to stimulate intellects. Democrats should have learned by now from Trump that emotional appeals stimulate votes."
"He can drive home his new message with speeches, debate appearances and media ads that demonstrate his empathy with and understanding of the financial struggles that Americans still endure. A new approach would help President Biden in particular and Democrats in general gain support from the many working families that support Trump and Republicans."
Facts and figures won't do it. Emotional appeal and empathy might. If Biden can't or won't do it, he should get out of the way and let someone else get nomination who can do it.
As soon as I hear someone suggest that Biden get out of the way at this late date I usually just ignore the rest because that's an unrealistic suggestion.
But leaving that aside, yes, I hope the Biden campaign will work the emotional side of the story but it's hard to do when people are just wrong about the state of our economy and are boltered by phrases like "sky high gas and grocery prices" which is just wrong. Gas prices are lower than they were in the few months before Obama was re-elected in 2012. All the bellyaching of the average guy gets hugely amplified every time it gets reported again by someone at the NYTimes
(or the Hilll) reporting on the views of a select group of "regular" folk.
Kevin's chart shows quite clearly that real wages fell during Biden's first two years and are still shy of their pre-pandemic level. It's not emotionalism, it's people looking at their paycheck and their grocery bill. How can anyone look at Kevin's chart and say that people are irrationally unhappy?