Bidenflation Crushed Real Wages Again in October

Wages are falling again for American workers.

The inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees fell by 0.7 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday.

Bosses paid an average of 0.4 percent more per hour in October but prices paid by wage earners rose by 1.1 percent, pushing down real wages.

What’s more, because weekly hours fell 0.3 percent, average weekly earnings decreased by 1.0 percent after adjusting for inflation.

Compared with a year ago, inflation-adjusted hourly earnings fell 1.1 percent and weekly earnings fell 1.4 percent.

Real average hourly earnings for all employees—a broader category that includes supervisors—fell 0.5 percent from September to October.  Average pay rose 0.4 percent but inflation for all urban consumers rose by 0.9 percent.  Weekly earnings fell 0.9 percent in the month, thanks to inflation and a 0.3 percent decline in the average workweek.

Over the last 12 months, real average hourly earnings for all employees have fallen 1.2 percent. Weekly earnings are down 1.6 percent, after adjusting for inflation.

Inflation adjusted wages fell in January through June on a monthly basis, were flat in July, and rose in August and September. But the extraordinarily high inflation in October has pushed wages back into negative territory. On an annual basis, wages have been in negative territory in each month since April. That’s the longest stretch of year-over-year wage contraction since 2011-2012.