Silver State Times

While work wages in Nevada have risen over the past year, a new report states that record inflation has put a damper on workers’ salaries.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that real average hourly earnings decreased 3.6%, seasonally adjusted, from June 2021 to June 2022, and decreased 1% from May to June.

BLS data reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the past year was at 9.1%, the highest number in over 40 years. Inflation is being led by gas prices, housing needs and food prices.  

"REAL (inflation-adjusted) hourly earnings DECLINED at the steepest in four decades in June," Joel Griffith, research fellow and economist at the Heritage Foundation, said on Twitter. "For a couple earning $100,000 last year, this is a $3600 pay cut in 2022."

After subtracting CPI inflation, the average pay for non-managerial workers was down 2.7% over the last 12 months; a recent Axios report said. That was the steepest drop since 1980 (except for a single month at the start of the pandemic, when data was distorted).

The wage increase for workers has been stymied by the surge of inflation on products they consume.

Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers are up 2.2% since December 2021, Axios said. That would typically be ideal for a six-month period; however, consumer prices rose 5.4% in that same span.

Consumer sentiment during the month of June was reported at an all-time low. The University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers revealed that June saw a -41.5% year-over-year change in the Index of Consumer Sentiment. The index also saw a -14.4% change from May to June.

President Joe Biden's leadership has been criticized for months, with Americans continuing to disapprove of his job performance, the New York Times said. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll revealed the president's approval rating is now at 33% among Americans. More than three-quarters of registered voters see the United States as moving in the wrong direction.

"Pessimism spans every corner of the country, every age range and racial group, cities, suburbs and rural areas, as well as both political parties," the Times report said.

The average household income in Nevada is $81,496. When adjusted for inflation, this number drops by $2,934 to bring the annual income to $78,562, World Population Review said.