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CNBC Mocked For Arguing 'Rising Wages' Are 'Silver Lining' Of Inflation

Ironically, CNBC's 'silver lining' claim is false when adjusted for inflation

Published: July 09, 2021
  |   By Charley Mills

CNBC published an article on Thursday arguing that “higher salaries” were the “silver lining” to the Biden administration’s rampant inflation.

“Already, prices on some goods, like cars, are noticeably higher, stoking fears that a sudden uptick in inflation will decrease purchasing power over time. Although consumers may pay more for everyday items, it’s not all bad news as far as household income and spending goes. Companies facing a labor shortage are also paying more to get workers to walk in the door,” CNBC reported on Thursday afternoon. “Workers already saw a bump in their paychecks for June. As of the latest tally, average hourly earnings rose 0.3% month over month and 3.6% year over year, according to the Labor Department.”

Ironically, CNBC’s “silver lining” claim that companies are “paying more to get workers to walk in the door” is false when adjusted for inflation. As wages have increased 3.6%, inflation has increased 5%, resulting in a net decrease in wages.

The New York Times reported last month, “The Consumer Price Index surged 5 percent in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists had expected an increase of 4.7 percent. Prices rose 0.6 percent from April to May, and an index that excludes volatile food and energy costs rose 3.8 percent from a year earlier, the briskest pace since 1992.”

CNBC’s article resulted in the outlet being mocked across social media.

“Tell me you failed economics class but get paid to write about it,” commentator Ian Miles Cheong tweeted.

“The average monthly salary in Zimbabwe is a whopping 217,000 ZWD,” one user said, citing the hyperinflation of Zimbabwe.

“For the next article, how about: ‘Earthquake’s silver lining: more construction jobs.’” Another user wrote.

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