WASHINGTON D.C., DC — President Joe Biden went on the road this week, and he followed up his State of the Union address by touting his promises and actions to improve the economy.
He spoke Wednesday in Arizona where he celebrated Intel’s construction in a new chip manufacturing facility thanks to an investment from the CHIPS and Science Act.
President Biden said his policies are helping turn the economy around. “Growth is strong," he said to applause from those in attendance. "Wages are up more than prices.”
The Republican Party and Republican National Committee quickly responded with tweets refuting President Biden. One said that he, quote, “flat out lies,” while the other said, "FACT: Real average weekly earnings are down by 4.2% under Biden."
QUESTIONS
- Have wages recently risen faster than inflation?
- Have real average wages fallen since Joe Biden became President?
SOURCES
ANSWER
President Biden and his Republican critics are both correct, based on the lack of timeframe in his statement.
WHAT WE FOUND
Real average wages is a statistic used to show the spending power of employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis both track it. They adjust weekly average earnings for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index, the most commonly-referenced measure of inflation.
Real average wages spiked when the coronavirus pandemic began and started reverting to pre-pandemic levels in the summer of 2021.
If measuring from January 2021, when President Biden took office, to February 2024, the most recent month for which data exists, real average wages fell 4.2%. But, after bottoming out in June 2022, real average wages have steadily recovered by 0.9 percent.
Since President Biden did not specify a timeframe when he spoke, he can be right while the GOP is also right.