Via NBC News: Inflation hits 3.8%, outpacing wage growth for the first time since 2023.
Inflation surged to 3.8% in April, its highest level in nearly three years, according to data released Tuesday, as the war in Iran causes a ripple effect across the economy and energy prices surge.
[…]
April’s inflation rate means that prices are now rising faster than wages for the first time since 2023, which could exacerbate the affordability crisis that has already been gripping consumers.
The pace of wage gains has been slowing over the past two years. In November, wage growth continued to rise at a pace of almost 4%. April’s jobs report, which was released on Friday, showed that wage growth had slowed to 3.6%.
Here’s the graph:
Meanwhile, CNN reports: Americans’ anger about the economy hits Trump and Republicans’ midterm prospects.
A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds that 77% – including a majority of Republicans – say that Trump’s policies have increased the cost of living in their own community. Roughly two-thirds of Americans say that Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country. And Trump’s approval rating stands at 30% on the economy, a career low.
Without any doubt, the fact that SCOTUS has flung open the gates to allow Republican-controlled states to squeeze as many seats as possible from their maps is going to dampen Democrats’ ability to capitalize on this discontent at the ballot box.
Still, the own-goal of it all is pretty staggering.
Further, as I seek to wring whatever few drops of optimism I can from swirling bad news around us all, two things are at least partially heartening.
First, if Trump were a more effective authoritarian, far rosier numbers would have been reported than these. His purge was clearly not sufficiently complete to get him reports to his liking.
Second, and along the same lines, had Trump been a smarter authoritarian, he would have ridden the solid economy Biden left him, while taking credit for it all, while getting away with his other nonsense. Instead, he has demonstrated the same acumen that led to failed marriages, bankrupt casinos, and numerous sham businesses.
