President Joe Biden said Wednesday that jobs and incomes are “up,” yet according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, real earnings have declined substantially since Biden took office.
“We’re working to deliver an economy that finally works for working families,” said Biden during a speech Wednesday at the Huntington Place Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan. “Jobs are up, incomes are up, people are back to work.”
However, since Biden took office in January 2021, real wages have decreased significantly; real average hourly earnings declined from $11.41 in January 2021 to $10.95 in August 2022, the BLS reported. Since the beginning of Biden’s term in 2021, real wages have decreased by a total of 5.5% or $3,000 per household on average, according to Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni. (Related: Key Inflation Indicator Remains Sky-High In Another Worrying Sign For Businesses)
Real average hourly earnings decreased 2.8% in August 2022 compared to August 2021, and the last recorded wage increase was March of 2021, the BLS reported. Hourly earnings did see a slight 0.2% increase from July to August, yet overall weekly wages decreased by 0.1% in that time span, and the average hours worked weekly fell o.3% from July, according to the BLS.
Here is the growth of real wages by occupations for the pandemic period compared to pre-pandemic ranked by wages.
You can see real wages up at the bottom, down at the top, and generally doing worse than pre-pandemic.
Increases my confidence in the broad story. pic.twitter.com/mMItmVq5wS
— Jason Furman (@jasonfurman) February 11, 2022
Real average hourly earnings have increased slightly over the past few months, with August’s average of $10.95 a jump from June’s $10.87. However, this figure is still substantially lower than August 2021, and lower still than when Biden took office.
The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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