Americans Just Took a Pay Cut As Inflation Outpaces Wages

[Cali_Democrat]

Did you realize that you took a pay cut recently because of inflation?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42380997

Americans Just Took a Pay Cut As Inflation Outpaces Wages
By: John Melloy

You may not have noticed it when you opened up your paycheck last month, but you just took a pay cut.

Wages in America are flattening as inflation surges, therefore real income growth is actually negative, according to the latest data from the Labor Department.

Average hourly earnings in March were flat compared to the previous month for the second time in a row. On an annual basis, income increased by just 1.7 percent.

Meanwhile, consumer price index data released two weeks from now could show a jump in prices of as much as 2.6 percent year-over-year, according to an estimate from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
Read more...http://www.cnbc.com/id/42380997

[Armstead]

1. Welcome to the 1970's

If stagflation takes hold, we're really stuck

[ixion]

4. what we're going through is going to make the 70's look like a picnic

in my opinion, and it's going to make the so-called 'great' depression look quaint.

[CountAllVotes]

2. using a credit card to buy food

I use a credit card that gives me cash back on groceries. This past month, it rang up to almost $400.00. I've never spent this much on groceries in my life.

Said groceries contained lots of items on sale with various discounts. Without these discounts, the bill for the month probably would have been almost $500.00.

:grr:

:kick:

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I realize it. Try going to the gas pumps and grocery store.

And what is this laughable jump in prices "as much as 2.6 percent"??? Really? I am seeing much higher jumps on the "essentials" in life. Oh that's right, we don't include gas and utilities in the consumer price index. But if you want to buy a big screen TV, you have better do that now, because prices will be jumping.

[ixion]

5. Gas prices went from 2.75 to 3.65 in 3 months... definitely more than 2.6%...

more like 30%.

[Trajan]

6. This didn't just start ....

This has been the norm for at least 20 years now ....

It is pitiful that no one seems to care very much about it ....

[starroute]

7. And my bank seems to think that 2% is a "fabulous" interest rate

Is there any place to put your money that will even keep pace?

[Cali_Democrat]

10. That's not high risk?

Not really. 2% right now is actually good for a risk free rate. The Fed funds rate is at 0.25% if I'm not mistaken.

The Fed has an easy money policy right now and that won't change for the foreseeable future. They've also been printing hundreds of billions of dollars and buying US treasuries. This also puts downward pressure on interest rates.

[HughBeaumont]

8. "Just Took"??

[Uben]

9. You peons don't need money!

You don't know how to manage it, and that's why you don't have any! If you were paid more, you'd just waste it on more junk food getting obese and making the rest of us have to pay your medical bills and social security payments.

If you divided all the money up evenly among Americans, in a hundred years, the same people would still have all the money, so what's the use?



/sarcasm

[upi402]

11. What pay? Mr Boner,,, where my jobs at?

:shrug: