During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to the news that American workers’ real wages fell in January by saying “the President’s economic plan is indeed working.”
Jean-Pierre’s comments came in response to questions about a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said, “Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.2 percent from December to January, seasonally adjusted… Real average hourly earnings decreased 1.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, from January 2022 to January 2023.”
“Numbers came out today that show a monthly decline in real wages, as well as an annual decline in real wages. The administration officials have said growing real wages is an important marker for the economy,” a reporter said.
“How do you view the setback in today’s numbers?” the reporter asked.
“So, a couple of things. I do want to say that — what we have said many times is that — we believe that the President’s — the President’s economic plan is indeed working and it’s giving people a little breathing room,” Jean-Pierre responded. “You heard me say this at the top, how the — how we have seen, you know — how we have seen the plan actually working. We see — we’re seeing inflation moderate just a bit, as we’ve seen the last couple of months. And that is important.”
“And the way that we see things moving forward, we believe that it is — that it is important to continue to work to fin- — to finish the work that the President has started,” she continued. “And that’s what you heard from him very explicitly just — just a couple of days ago when — just last week when he talked about the state of the union and how he sees every — how he sees the economy and the progress moving forward.”
“So, two things on the wages, as you’re asking me specifically on those pieces, as it relates to the data. Real wages are indeed up over the last seven months, which is important since trends are always more useful than one month’s data,” she added, refusing to acknowledge the fact that real wages are down over the last year and down since Biden took office in January 2021.
Q: "Numbers came out today that show a monthly decline in real wages as well as an annual decline in real wages…."
Karine Jean-Pierre: "The president's economic plan is indeed working." pic.twitter.com/MDbyRkS51G
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 14, 2023