US Consumer Prices Soar At Fastest In 39 Years, Real Wages Tumble For 9th Straight Month Consensus was convinced - with barely any outliers - that this morning's consumer price index would print with an astonishing 7.0% YoY (and notably 7 of the last 9 releases have come in above consensus) and they nailed it with the 7% print at its highest since June 1982 (when ET was launched in the US)... Source: Bloomberg That is the 19th straight monthly rise in headline CPI and Core CPI also surged to its highest since Feb 1991 (printing hotter than expected at +5.5% YoY)... Source: Bloomberg Under the hood, commodities, shelter, and new-and-used cars and trucks saw prices jump the most. Energy actually saw a modest 0.4% retracement (that will not be the case in January)... Source: Bloomberg In fact, while Services inflation rose to +3.7% - its highest since Jan 2007 - Goods inflation soared 10.7% YoY - its highest since May 1975... Source: Bloomberg Finally, and perhaps most importantly for Main Street, real average hourly earnings fell for the 9th straight month... Source: Bloomberg So the next time a politician tries to tell you to be grateful that your wages are going up or you can move to a new higher paying job, just remind him that the surge in the cost of living is outpacing wage gains, thanks to The Fed's money-largesse and Congress' lockdown policies and helicopter money have crushed the quality of life for millions. Tyler Durden Wed, 01/12/2022 - 08:36