You know what hasn't fallen over the last few years? Wages! In the latest government jobs data released Friday, average hourly earnings rose another .2 percent in August and were 4.3 percent higher than 2022. Before Covid, annual hourly earnings typically climbed south of 2 (think Shedeur Sanders) percent. This is important as it can be very hard to normalize price inflation if wage inflation is not normal. Note the trend line in the chart below. Its likely that wage inflation this year will be the fifth highest in the last three decades.