In this week’s Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes about the good news out of Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index report.
The year-over-year Consumer Price Index remained at 2.7 percent in July, still a bit on the higher side, but it defied expectations that it would likely reach 2.8 percent. Since January, Biden’s last month in office, prices have increased 1.7 percent, according to the July CPI report. This was a slight uptick from 1.5 percent in the January to June time frame.
But the rise in wages is the real positive story in the economic numbers at six months in. Weekly wages in June had increased from January by 1.7 percent, outpacing price increases by just 0.2 percent. However, in July, weekly wages increased to 2.3 percent, while prices had increased 1.7 percent. That means since Trump was inaugurated, wages have outpaced prices by 0.6 percent.
This is a good sign that the economy may be heading in the right direction, with wages increasing at a faster pace than inflation. In the 2024 election, voters were clear that they wanted the next president and Congress to address the cost of living. Keeping wages ahead of inflation is the name of the game, and the report is a positive sign.
Read the full piece here.
