Wages for the average American has fallen 3% - Great job Joe!

Lower gas prices helped reduce the year-over-year inflation rate as
of the end of July, while inflation-adjusted earnings still trail
rising prices by a wide margin, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) reported.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items increased 8.5 percent for
the 12 months ending July, a smaller figure than the 9.1-percent
increase for the period ending June, but still near a 40-year high.

The gasoline index fell 7.7 percent from June 2022 to July
2022—offsetting increases in the food and shelter indexes.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 5.9 percent for the
past 12 months, about three times the Federal Reserve's inflation
target.

High inflation means the buying power of workers' take-home pay has
been shrinking. Real (inflation-adjusted) average hourly earnings fell
3 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022, the BLS
separately reported.

When factoring in a decline in the average workweek since a year ago,
the result is a 3.6 percent drop in real weekly pay for the average
hourly worker.