President Joe Biden recently boasted that real disposable income was up in the first quarter of 2023, but he neglected to note that, due to mitigating factors like high inflation, Americans actually have less real earnings than they did a year ago.
“This past quarter, real personal disposable income increased and American consumers continued to spend, even as the overall pace of growth moderated,” Biden said in a statement and a tweet last Thursday.
While true, monthly real disposable income peaked at $19,213 in Biden’s second month in office (March 2021) and steadily declined until it began to gradually tick higher last July.
At $15,660, real disposable income last month was still about thirty-five hundred dollars lower than it was in March of 2021.
In comparison, real disposable income was $13,783 in President Donald Trump’s first full month in office (February 2017) and $17,099 in his last month in the White House (January 2021).
What’s more, “real” earnings fell in March, when adjusted for inflation and seasonality, compared to both the previous month and year-ago. According the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), real average weekly earnings dropped 0.1% from February 1.6% from March of 2022.
On an hourly basis, real earnings in March rose 0.2% from February, but fell 0.7% from the same month last year.
The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold.
