Why Real Wages Are Falling Despite a Strong Labor Market

Lucas and Luna dig into an uncomfortable economic paradox: the unemployment rate is flat at 4.3%, monthly payrolls keep rising, yet average hourly earnings adjusted for CPI are actually shrinking. They explore how the 4.2% annual CPI print in May has erased wage gains, leaving workers with less purchasing power than a year ago. Lucas walks through the math of real wages, why hourly earnings data can be misleading due to composition effects, and what this means for consumer spending heading into the second half of 2026. They also touch on the ECB's recent rate hike and how energy-driven inflation is squeezing households globally. No hot takes—just the numbers and what they imply for the broader economy. #RealWages #Inflation #LaborMarket #CPI #AverageHourlyEarnings #PurchasingPower #ECB #EnergyPrices #ConsumerSpending #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #EconomicIndicators #WageGrowth #May2026CPI #FedPolicy #HouseholdFinances #NominalVsReal Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo