You Just Got A Big Raise, America!

We just got fresh data on inflation.

And in a surprise to economists, prices actually fell 0.2% in August. The decline was driven largely by falling energy prices, which you can see in this table in the box that's highlighted.

What this means is that your dollar went a lot further in August than it did in the month before (you could afford to buy more stuff).

And indeed at the same time that the inflation data came out, we also got the latest info on real wage growth. It turns out real wage growth (that is wages, adjusted for prices) spiked 0.4% in August. Congrats on your raise, America! Don't spend it in one place.