Why Your Raise Is Beating Inflation But Not Utility Bills

Episode 47 of Wages and Prices with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna drill into a detail that wage-growth headlines miss: utilities. The CPI shelter index gets all the attention, but electricity, gas, and water costs have climbed nearly 9 percent over the past year, outpacing both average hourly earnings growth and headline CPI. Using May 2026 data — hourly earnings at $37.50, CPI at 4.2 percent annually — they show how a typical raise buys less discretionary power when fixed bills eat the gain. They walk through the breakdown: electricity up 6.8 percent year-over-year, piped gas up 12.4 percent, water and sewer up 5.2 percent. Lucas flags that utility inflation is more persistent than food or energy because of deferred grid investment and rate-case cycles. Luna notes that the burden falls hardest on lower earners, where utilities take a bigger share of income. A focused, numbers-driven episode that helps listeners understand exactly where their raise went this month. #Utilities #WageGrowth #CPI #Inflation #ElectricityPrices #NaturalGas #WaterRates #RealEarnings #CostOfLiving #EnergyCosts #HourlyEarnings #RateCases #GridInvestment #EconomicIndicator #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Economics #WagesAndPrices Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo