The latest economic statistics out Friday show that wages are rising faster than prices, meaning the average worker has more purchasing power today than before Joe Biden became president.
"Hourly wages rose 4.1 from a year ago," the Associated Press reported, citing the numbers from the Department of Labor, "faster than the rate of inflation and more quickly than in April."
The annual inflation rate, by comparison, is 3.4%, noted economist Steven Rattner.
According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the average U.S. worker now makes $34.91 an hour, compared to $28.77 in March 2020.
In addition to wage growth, the latest data show the U.S. added 272,000 nonfarm jobs in May, exceeding the 185,000 that economists predicted, according to Reuters.
"So much for slowing," economist Brian Jacobsen told the news service. "The headline payrolls number is eye popping," he said, arguing it would encourage the Federal Reserve to take on inflation without "worrying much about growth."
The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up from 3.9% to 4%, marking 30 straight months of near-record low unemployment, noted the center-left Economic Policy Institute.
"This labor market just keeps cranking out huge numbers of jobs. We've added almost a million jobs in the last 4 months alone, and the unemployment rate has been at 4% or less for TWO AND A HALF YEARS," Heidi Shierholz, president of the center-left Economic Policy Institute, posted on X. "It really is incredible."
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