The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revised a wage growth estimate by a massive margin, showing real wages actually declined in the fourth quarter of 2022, the agency reported on Thursday.
In March, the BLS previously reported a fourth-quarter increase of 4.9% for hourly compensation in nonfarm businesses, but updated it to a decrease of 0.7% on Thursday, according to its revised Productivity and Costs report. At the same time hourly wages fell, inflation rose, leading to a 4.7% decline in “real hourly compensation, which takes into account consumer prices,” according to the BLS.
The BLS had previously estimated that real hourly compensation increased by 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the revised report.
“The driver of the revision to 4th quarter data on compensation per hour is the revision to source data on employee compensation for 2022 Q4, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on May 25th,” the BLS told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The referenced report states that “wages and salaries are now estimated to have increased $53.0 billion in the fourth quarter, a downward revision of $135.4 billion.” (RELATED: Core Prices Tick Up As Inflation Stays Stubbornly High)
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives for a meeting on the House side of the U.S. Capitol May 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. Powell addressed the New Democratic Coalition on the debt ceiling, inflation and interest rates. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Approximately two-thirds of Americans reported that their wages cannot keep up with inflation, according to the most recent CNBC All-America Economic Survey released in April.
Most Americans do not trust the country’s main economic authorities to “do or recommend the right thing for the economy,” according to a Gallup poll published in May. The poll found that only 34% to 38% of American adults have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in President Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and congressional leaders.
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