Part 3: How much (more) money we're making:
Bottom Line: In today's third story breaking down the employment report from December we'll explore real incomes. The average hourly wage for all Americans is currently $26.63. Here are a couple of highlights:
+9 cents per hour over the past month
+2.5% year over year
Average hours worked - 33.8
There's plenty to like this month. 2.5% year over year growth is decent. 3.6% year over year is awesome. That's what we paced in December alone. When you factor in the impact of tax reform, in which the average person will benefit by 4% more in retained earnings (the average Floridian will benefit by 4.1%) - we indeed are seeing the average person netting about 7% more in retained earnings. This is the best year over year increase in 32 years. That's incredible and it's hard to overstate its importance as we wade into 2018. I suspect upward revisions will be coming to the headline number in future months and there's lots to love under the headline anyway. Add in tax reform and there's nothing but room for optimism and if you find someone who isn't? They're living in an altered state of reality.
Until next month...