Explain to Me Why Wage Increases Are Inflationary and CEO Pay Is Not
According to CNBC, “Worker pay rose more than expected in Q1 in another sign of persistent inflation.” Digging a bit into the article, it turns out the ‘expectation’ came from the government Labor Department, as untrustworthy a source as can be found.
Elsewhere, the article mentions “that was higher than the 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and above the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 1% increase.” I question if any of the wunderkinds over at Dow Jones have ever turned a wrench, driven a garbage truck or worked on an Amazon shipping floor.
“State and local government workers saw their compensation costs rise 4.8%, down just narrowly from the same period in 2023. The bigger increase likely was attributable to the high level of that group belonging to unions, which saw compensation costs increase 5.3%, compared with just a 3.9% gain for nonunion workers.”
The Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 97, a decline of 6.1 points that was below the Wall Street estimate for 103.5. Yep, Wall …