The Connection Between Cost Of Living And Salary Negotiations And Job Offers – Americans have been complaining about the cost of living since colonial days. But actually measuring it and determining how it changes over time has always been difficult. A century ago, in 1921, the US government began publishing the Consumer Price Index (CPI), based on the cost of living in major cities.

The CPI remains the most widely cited measure of the cost of living today, showing how costs have changed from year to year and proving to critics that few things are as expensive as they once were.

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It is also used as a proxy for inflation in adjusting union wages, Social Security benefits, income taxes and other financial calculations that play an important role in Americans’ lives.

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Shortly after Congress established it in 1884, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began collecting data on Americans’ cost of living. In the late 1880s, 8,544 households recorded annual consumption and current retail prices for 215 commodities.

Over the years, BLS data collection methods have become more complex and ambitious. The results are often presented in negotiations between employers and trade unions. Union members used this to significantly increase their members’ minimum wage demands.

As we know, the CPI began during World War I, when the Shipbuilding Labor Regulatory Board used BLS data to determine a fair wage rate for workers in American shipyards. Their work was considered so important to the war effort that the government did not want strikes or work stoppages for higher wages.

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Soon, the BLS expanded its coverage to other sectors, collecting data on household expenses and prices for more than 140 goods and services for 12,000 American households.

The BLS began publishing this data in 1919, and in 1921 presented it in a format similar to the current CPI. In its early years, it was called Value of Life. In 1945, it became the Consumer Price Index for middle-income families in large cities. This was soon shortened to the Consumer Price Index.

The CPI has continued to rise over time. Sometimes it shows current events. For example, during World War II, the cost of new cars and home appliances was taken out of the equation because neither was widely available. Fees for car repair and public transport have increased.

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Long-term trends have also been resolved. In the 1950s, frozen food and television were added to the CPI price list. In the 1960s, the cost of living for single households was first discussed.

In 1978, the BLS introduced the CPI or CPI-U for all urban consumers and renamed it the CPI or CPI-W for urban wage earners and clergy. The new CPI-U is designed to better reflect the cost of living for most Americans.

In 2002, the BLS released the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or C-CPI-U. The main difference between it and other CPIs is that changes in what consumers put in their baskets are caused by increases or decreases in the price of individual goods. For example, if beef is more expensive, consumers may buy more fish or chicken, and vice versa.

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The BLS created another CPI, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), and published data through 1982.

This index is designed to track the cost of living for Americans over age 62, using weights that reflect the preferences of older consumers. For example, higher medical expenses are accounted for.

Many changes to the CPI stemmed from criticism of its methods and accuracy as a measure of inflation. These criticisms continue to this day.

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As the BLS itself acknowledges, the CPI is often accused of not reflecting the experiences of certain population groups. Additionally, the list of things consumers spend their money on can lag behind what they actually buy, especially when new popular products hit the market.

While the CPI captures the experiences of Americans in general well enough, it may be inappropriate for every individual. “Consumers whose market baskets differ from the average basket will experience inflation that differs from the CPI measure,” the BLS reported in 2012. someone who spends a lot of money on furniture, clothes and electronics. “

Some critics argue that the CPI inflates inflation, while others argue that it does the opposite.

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Despite its limitations, the CPI plays a central role in the lives of most Americans. For example, collective bargaining agreements often include a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) calculated from the CPI. Employers who have unemployed workers can consult the CPI to increase wages.

Social Security and Supplemental Security recipients can increase their benefits each year based on any CPI-W increase from the previous year. If the CPI-W does not increase as it did in 2016, the benefits will remain unchanged.

The CPI also affects how much income tax you pay from year to year. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sets marginal income tax rates each year based on changes in the chained CPI.

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However, not every government agency uses the CPI to estimate inflation. For example, the Federal Reserve uses the price index of personal consumption expenditures (PCE), an alternative measure produced by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis that it considers more accurate for these purposes.

While some believe Social Security calculations should be based on the CPI-E rather than the CPI-W, a 2019 analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that switching to the CPI-E would only result in an increase in benefits. one seventh of 1% per year.

Although the CPI is an important factor in determining the income of many Americans, it is not the only one. Our research showed that both consumer prices and household incomes grew over time, but at a high speed.

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As the above chart below shows, the CPI has risen at a significantly faster rate over time (the inflationary 1970s accelerated the curve, as the chart clearly shows).

But as the second chart shows, household income follows a more ambiguous path and even declines during periods like the holidays.

In addition, the cost of living increases annually in seemingly small years, as does interest. For example, the CPI-U rose modestly in the 2010s, rising 1.4% per year over the decade, then began to decline in the mid-2020s due to supply chain issues related to COVID-19. build

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Meanwhile, the BLS CPI inflation calculator shows that $100 in January 2010 has the purchasing power of $142.04 at the end of September 2023.

The personal experience of most Americans shows that wages have not covered the cost of living in recent decades. However, the data is more stark. There is evidence that most monthly income flows upward.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that average hourly wages for all workers rose 0.5% from September 2022 to September 2023. But they did less, showing a 0.1% decline over the period. Non-supervisory staff fared worse. Their real average hourly wage increased by 0.8%, but shorter working hours led to a drop in real wages by 0.2%.

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Wages being tied to inflation is not necessarily good news, especially in a country that prides itself on being the land of opportunity, where longtime workers can expect an improvement in living standards. Economists call this wage stagnation.

For Americans, wage growth at the bottom of the economic pyramid, known as wage inequality, has barely increased.

Low-wage workers are particularly hard hit. Some states tie their minimum wages to the CPI, while others leave it up to their legislatures to decide when to give raises. The federal government takes the latter approach, and raising the minimum wage is a contentious political issue. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009.

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Because the federal government has been slow to raise the minimum wage, some workers’ wages have fallen sharply in line with inflation. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 in 2022, according to the most recent data available, is down 18% from the last increase in 2009, after adjusting for the cost of living. In 1968, a minimum wage worker earned an inflation-adjusted $10.59 an hour, 46% more than today’s wage earners. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “today’s minimum wage would exceed $22 an hour if it kept pace with productivity gains over the past five decades.”

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