Grand Canyon Times

Wage inflation for August 2022 reached $-3.4% in August, bringing Arizona's average household income down $3,181 year over year, from $93,563 to $90,382 annually.

"Inflation has been eating up wage gains since April 2021 and showing little sign of significant easing," Heather Long of the Washington Post tweeted on Sept. 13.

Inflation for August 2022 has been announced as 8.3% by the Consumer Price Index. That number may be down only slightly from a month ago, but year-over-year real average wage earnings are also down 3.4% nationwide, causing erosion in the average household income, Zippia reported. 

"Average hourly pay in America (adjusted for inflation) down -2.8% in the past year, Long wrote. According to the BLS, average hourly earnings for all employees dropped2.8% from August 2021 to August 2022. The change in earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6% in the average workweek resulted in a 3.4% decrease in real average weekly earnings in the last year, the BLS data said.

On Sept.13, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the previous year, showing .an 8.3% all items annual increase. Some of the largest contributors were increases in the indexes for shelter, food, and medical care, the BLOS said

Food prices rose 0.8% in August and are up 11.4% over last year. Take-home grocery prices are up 0.7% for the month and 13.5% in the past 12 months. The index for shelter rose0.7% in the last month and 6.2% in the past year. Medical care costs are up .7%

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said, "8.3% inflation means your salary is about 1/12 gone,” he said on Twitter. “If you make same pay as last year, higher prices robbed you a full month of your pay. If you buy same things this year as last year, inflation is trying to pay for it with 11 months’ worth of pay instead of 12 months’ worth"