Posted on 03/14/2023 6:27:52 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
LAST PARAGRAPH: "From February 2022 to February 2023, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.9 percent in the average workweek resulted in a 1.2-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period."
(Excerpt) Read more at bls.gov ...
The 1.2% figure is for the year not a month, so you don’t need to multiply by 12.
You’re annualizing an already annualized figure.
A 1.2% decrease means the earnings in real terms remains almost flat. However, there is serious inflation that is at a much higher rate.
So, relatively from year to year, the wage earner is economically considerably worse off by a factor equal to the inflation rate minus the wage change rate.
6% + (-1.2%) = 7.2% change in buying power
“real average hourly earnings”
using “real” means they were already taking inflation into account.
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