President Joe Biden touted Americans\u2019 rising wages over the weekend, but a closer look shows there is more to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMore Americans have health insurance than ever in history,\u201d Biden wrote on Twitter. \u201cFewer families are facing foreclosure today than before the pandemic. And wages are climbing faster than prices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While wages have increased during Biden\u2019s presidency, soaring inflation has eroded and often surpassed any gains for workers since Biden took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly a few months of Biden\u2019s presidency have [we] seen wages and earnings rise faster than prices,\u201d said E.J. Antoni, an economist at the Heritage Foundation. \u201cOver the last two years, the American people have become demonstrably worse off with the average family losing $6,000 in purchasing power because prices have risen so much faster than wages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antoni argued Biden misrepresents the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[Biden] also said \u2018wages are higher now than they were seven months ago adjusted for inflation\u2019 \u2013 but real wages are LOWER than they were 8, 9, 10, \u2026 months ago, and lower than when Biden took office (conveniently omitted),\u201d Antoni said, adding that Biden \u201calso omits real [average] weekly earnings, which have declined even further than real [average] hourly earnings, because businesses have been reducing hours, cutting full-time jobs [and] replacing with part-time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal employees faced this reality firsthand in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden issued an executive order in December giving a wide range of federal employees a 4.6% pay increase, 4.1% as a raise and 0.5% as a cost-of-living adjustment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That raise is much higher than the 2.7% increase from the same time last year, but neither have helped those workers keep pace with rising prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 4.6% increase is far less than the rise in consumer prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RELATED: If Budget Deficits Caused Inflation, There Would Be No Budget Deficits<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new inflation data earlier this month that showed the overall consumer price index rose 6.5% in the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t the first time Biden has given an especially rosy outlook on the economy. Biden suggested food prices were falling in a recent tweet when they have actually soared since he took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the sixth month in a row, yearly inflation is down,\u201d Biden wrote on Twitter earlier this month. \u201cIt might be rising in economies around the world, but it\u2019s coming down here. And gas prices, food, and more are following.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But food prices actually rose again in December as they have for the past 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BLS data shows the \u201cfood at home\u201d index rose 0.2% in December and 11.8% in the past year. Food away from home rose 0.4% in December and 8.3% in the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe index for cereals and bakery products rose 16.1 percent over the year. The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases ranging from 7.7 percent (meats, poultry, fish, and eggs) to 15.3 percent (dairy and related products),\u201d BLS said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n