{"id":2266029,"date":"2024-06-12T13:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T17:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-fact-checking-bidens-claim-about-wage-increases-versus-inflation\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T14:02:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:02:52","slug":"fact-check-fact-checking-bidens-claim-about-wage-increases-versus-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-fact-checking-bidens-claim-about-wage-increases-versus-inflation\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Analyzing Biden&#8217;s Statement on Wage Growth Outpacing Inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-fact-checking-bidens-claim-about-wage-increases-versus-inflation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2266029&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a June 4 interview with\u2062 TIME Magazine, President Joe Biden asserted that wage increases have outpaced inflation during his presidency. This claim was countered by\u2062 TIME Magazine editors, who\u200d noted that cumulative inflation had risen nearly 20% since Biden \u2063took \u2062office,\u200c and wage increases \u200dhad not kept pace. Data from the\u2064 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates fluctuations in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/better-than-expected-u-s-economy-added-638000-jobs-in-october-unemployment-dropped-to-6-9\/\" title=\"Better Than Expected: U.S. Economy Added 638,000 Jobs in October, Unemployment Dropped to 6.9%\">average hourly earnings<\/a> since January 2020, with\u200b recent figures suggesting a slight increase from April 2023 to April 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, BLS data displayed in April 2024 showed a\u2062 3.4%\u200d change in the Consumer Price\u200c Index (CPI), including various adjustments for food, energy, and other factors. Despite some indicators \u200cshowing wage growth exceeding inflation recently, experts remain divided. Al\u00ed Bustamante from \u2063the Roosevelt Institute supported Biden\u2019s\u200b claim, emphasizing wage growth compared to pre-COVID levels, while Jai Kedia from \u2064the \u2063Cato Institute contested it, highlighting a decrease in \u200creal hourly compensation from Q1 2021 to Q1 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion also covered &#8220;greedflation,&#8221; with Biden critiquing corporate America for price gouging post-pandemic, which has been rebuked by economists like Kedia for lacking \u2064economic\u2063 basis and by Brian Riedl from the Manhattan Institute\u2064 for being\u200d overly simplistic. The White House defended Biden&#8217;s statements, underlining a relative increase in real \u200dwages from pre-pandemic levels.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"ob-read-more-selector\">\n<p>In a June 4 interview with TIME Magazine, President Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6984968\/joe-biden-transcript-2024-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claimed<\/a> wage increases have exceeded the cost of inflation.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Read the full transcript of President Joe Biden\u2019s interview with TIME <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/E4hoBv1Luy\">https:\/\/t.co\/E4hoBv1Luy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 TIME (@TIME) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TIME\/status\/1797952691718533630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 4, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: Unsubstantiated<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Data shows that while wage growth has outpaced inflation this year, most of Biden\u2019s presidency has been the opposite. Multiple experts shared differing opinions on Biden\u2019s claim with Check Your Fact.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Swing state polling from Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research reveal Biden is ahead of his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/joe-biden-donald-trump-polls-battleground-states-1908358\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsweek<\/a>. Biden won all three states in the 2020 presidential election, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>In the interview, Biden claimed wage increases have exceeded the cost of inflation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWage increases have exceeded what the cost of inflation, which you\u2019re talking about as the prices that were pre-COVID prices. Pre-COVID prices are not the same as whether or not they\u2014you have American, corporate America ripping off the public now. You have everything from shrinkflation to what\u2019s going on in terms of the way in which they\u2019re artificially moving significantly to increase their, their, their, their, their profits. That\u2019s not the same as inflation. That\u2019s price gouging,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n<p>Biden made the claim following a statement from TIME Magazine editors Massimo Calabresi and Sam Jacobs on cumulative inflation. Specifically, the editors said, \u201ccumulative inflation means prices are up nearly 20% since you took office and wage increases have not kept pace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s claim requires context. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/data.bls.gov\/timeseries\/CES0500000013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average hourly earnings of all employees was $10.98 in January 2020 before the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The number then increased to $11.72 in April 2020 after the pandemic hit. Similarly, the average hourly earnings of all employees was $11.40 in January 2021 when Biden was inaugurated as president.<\/p>\n<p>Average hourly earnings of all employees dropped to $11.28 in June 2021 and continued to drop throughout 2022 and 2023. In April 2023, the average hourly earnings of all employees was $11.04, whereas in April 2024, the preliminary number was $11.09. The BLS website indicates the data is seasonally adjusted.<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/charts\/consumer-price-index\/consumer-price-index-by-category.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">set of data<\/a> from the BLS showing a 12-month percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows a 3.4% change among all items as of April 2024. The same data shows a 2.2% change among food, a 2.6% change among energy, and a 3.6% change among all items, less food and energy, for the same time period. The BLS website indicates this data is not seasonally adjusted.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the BLS directed Check Your Fact to both sets of data. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2024\/06\/05\/fact-check-fact-checking-bidens-appointed-naval-academy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Fact Checking Biden\u2019s Claim That He Was \u2018Appointed\u2019 To The Naval Academy)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Likewise, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/pdf\/realer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15 news release<\/a> from the BLS highlighting real earnings in April 2024 reports an \u201c0.2% increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidenflation-crushed-workers-in-2021-three-worst-annual-real-wage-contractions-on-record\/\" title=\"Bidenflation Crushed Workers in 2021: Three Worst Annual Real Wage Contractions on Record\">average hourly earnings combined<\/a> with an increase of 0.3% in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).\u201d The release was cited in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/pdf\/realer.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blog post<\/a> from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) published on the same day.<\/p>\n<p>BLS data analyzed by the EPI included via a figure in the same blog post placed real wage growth at 0.6% and inflation at 2.5% in January 2020 compared to 7.7% (real wage growth) and 0.3% (inflation) a few months later in April 2020. The same data shows real wage growth at 3.8% and inflation at 1.4% in January 2021 when Biden was inaugurated. In June 2021, real wage growth was at -1.4% and inflation was at 5.4%. Finally, the same data shows -0.3% real wage growth and 4.9% inflation in April 2023 compared to 0.5% real wage growth and 3.4% inflation in April 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple experts shared their perspectives on Biden\u2019s claim with Check Your Fact.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rooseveltinstitute.org\/authors\/ali-r-bustamante\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr. Al\u00ed Bustamante<\/a>, the deputy director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at the liberal Roosevelt Institute, agreed with Biden\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndexing the main indicators for wage growth (average hourly earnings of all private-sector employees) and for inflation (consumer price index for all urban consumers) to pre-COVID pandemic levels of February 2020 you find that wage growth has exceeded inflation by 0.7 percent as of April 2024. Furthermore, wage increases have exceeded inflation growth in 82 percent of the 50 months since February 2020. Notably, wage growth has exceeded the cost of inflation despite the fact that inflation indicators account for price increases that may have been driven by price gouging, higher markups or other dynamics unrelated to increases in the cost of production,\u201d Bustamante said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/people\/jai-kedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jai Kedia<\/a>, a research fellow who studies monetary economics and macro-finance at the libertarian Cato Institute\u2019s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, told Check Your Fact the data \u201ceasily disproves [Biden\u2019s claim].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs for the wages outpacing inflation claim, the data easily disproves President Biden. <a id=\"m_-1906379324310523362LPlnk\" title=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/COMPRNFB\" href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/COMPRNFB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/COMPRNFB&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1717689048936000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2MNG2DfbeJLw-6dfk72CJV\">Real hourly compensation<\/a>, i.e., inflation-adjusted wages, have fallen from 110.56 in Q1 2021 when Biden was inaugurated to 106.61 in Q1 2024\u2014a decline of almost 4%,\u201d Kedia said via email.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more serious claim is that corporate America is responsible for post-pandemic inflation, usually dubbed \u2018greedflation.\u2019 It is well past time for the administration to stop parroting this talking point<span id=\"m_-1906379324310523362hyphen1\">\u2014<\/span>it is not true and reflects a lack of understanding of basic economic concepts,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Kedia also directed Check Your Fact to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/greedflation-accounting-identity-not-economic-explanation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 2023 article<\/a> he authored for the Cato Institute on \u201cgreedflation,\u201d where he writes that \u201cthe problem with the greedflation theory is that it is not an explanation for inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cAdditionally, I want to point out that fixating on the greedflation theory absolves politicians from looking at their own stimulus packages and the adverse effects it has had on prices following the pandemic. It is not a coincidence that historic inflation occurred immediately after the government handed out historic amounts of cash,\u201d Kedia explained further to Check Your Fact.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/groundworkcollaborative.org\/person\/bilal-baydoun\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bilal Baydoun<\/a>, director of policy and research at the progressive non-profit Groundwork Collaborative, commended Biden for calling out \u201ccorporate price gouging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorporate profits <a href=\"https:\/\/groundworkcollaborative.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/24.01.17-GWC-Corporate-Profits-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/groundworkcollaborative.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/24.01.17-GWC-Corporate-Profits-Report.pdf&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1718106346886000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1A1OxMmnnIzHCk8sJW9jbc\">drove 53%<\/a> of inflation in Q2 and Q3 of last year \u2013 the president is absolutely right to call out the corporate price gouging that is keeping costs high for families,\u201d Baydoun said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/manhattan.institute\/person\/brian-riedl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Riedl<\/a>, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, took issue with various aspects of Biden\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of nonsense to unpack. First, actual inflation-adjusted <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/COMPRNFB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hourly worker compensation<\/a> is still slightly down from early 2020 when the pandemic began\u2014and down nearly 5% from when Biden took office. This is especially frustrating when inflation-adjusted compensation should be rising annually, and being nearly flat for four years is not an achievement worthy of bragging. Furthermore, fixed-income retirees do not always receive \u2018worker compensation raises\u2019 and have thus suffered under inflation,\u201d Riedl said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNext, virtually all economists agree that the price gouging narrative for inflation is silly. Corporations have always been greedy and profit-maximizing, even when inflation was low. They didn\u2019t all suddenly decide to become greedy in 2021 and 2022. Corporate behavior has not changed, but rather trillions of stimulus dollars were pumped into the economy by the Federal Reserve and President Biden that predictably drove inflation. As for \u2018shrinkflation,\u2019 the BLS inflation data already adjusts for changes in package sizes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A White House official defended Biden\u2019s claim in an email to Check Your Fact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompared to pre-pandemic, real wages are up by 0.8% for all workers and 2.8% for low and middle income workers,\u201d the official said, citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/have-workers-gotten-a-raise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an October 2023 article<\/a> from the center-left Brookings Institution, which stated real wages are higher now than prior to the pandemic based on multiple measures, including average hourly earnings, CPI, total compensation, and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe a timeframe of pre-pandemic to present is the better timeframe because the composition of the workforce was different in the midst of the pandemic when President Biden took office than it was in January 2020 and now. <u><\/u><u><\/u>Lower-wage workers disproportionately lost their jobs during the pandemic and higher-wage workers remained employed\u2014leading the average wage per worker during the heights of the pandemic to be artificially high. <u><\/u><u><\/u>As more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fed-report-to-congress-says-enhanced-federal-unemployment-handouts-are-restricting-growth\/\" title=\"Fed Report To Congress Says Enhanced Federal Unemployment Handouts Are Restricting Growth\">lower-wage workers<\/a> were hired back into the workforce, one would expect the average wage per worker to decline somewhat,\u201d the official added.<\/p>\n<p>The White House official directed Check Your Fact to a December 2023 Treasury Department <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/featured-stories\/the-purchasing-power-of-american-households\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReal wages have risen since before the pandemic across the income distribution. In particular, middle-income and lower-income households have seen their real earnings rise especially fast. And in the past 12 months, real wages overall have grown faster than they did in the pre-pandemic expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TIME <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6985020\/joe-biden-fact-check-2024-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fact checked<\/a> Biden\u2019s claim indicating the BLS data \u201cshows hourly wage growth topping inflation for the past 12 months.\u201d \u201cIn April, nominal hourly earnings were up 3.9% from a year ago; inflation held at 3.4%. But cumulative inflation has outpaced wage growth for most of the Biden presidency,\u201d the magazine added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a June 4 TIME Magazine interview, President Joe Biden stated that wage increases have surpassed inflation rates. However, data reveals that although wages have grown faster than inflation in the current year, this trend hasn&#8217;t consistently held throughout his presidency. Read the full interview transcript here: [Link]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":2266030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2156087466-scaled-e1717608974463.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29362],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-caller"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2156087466-scaled-e1717608974463.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}