Summary: Using real Federal Reserve FRED data, this project answers the question every worker has: did my wages keep up with inflation? Answer: for 27 out of 48 months, they did not. CPI peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. The Fed responded with the fastest rate-hiking cycle since Paul Volcker in the 1980s — from 0.08% to 5.33%. Nominal wages rose +24.3% but prices rose +22.1% — leaving real purchasing power at 101.8 (baseline 100) in Dec 2023.
Key Findings
Peak CPI inflation
9.1%
Peak month
Jun 2022
Months workers behind
27 months
Fed rate hike
0.08%→5.33%
Nominal wage gain
+24.3%
Real purchasing power
101.8/100
Charts & Analysis
Inflation vs Wage Growth
Are workers keeping up?
Purchasing Power 2019–2023
Indexed to Jan 2019=100
Fed Policy Response
Fastest rate hikes since 1980s
What Drove Inflation?
CPI by category 2020–2023
Phillips Curve
Unemployment vs inflation
Real Wages by Phase
When were workers ahead vs behind?
Data Source
Federal Reserve FRED + BLS — https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
All data is real, publicly available government data. Free to download and verify independently.