The Sconi

Average hourly wages have fallen 1.2% over the last year, with a 1.6% decrease in real average weekly earnings, according to the real earnings summary released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. Rep Tom Tiffany (R-WI) tweeted Wednesday, responding to a tweet with the updated inflation figures.

“Trillions in big government socialist spending Americans don't want and can't afford,” Tiffany wrote. “Shutting down pipelines and killing US energy dominance. Forcing millions of Americans to choose between the jab and their job. This is Joe Biden’s economy.”

According to Fox News, all of Wisconsin's Democratic members of Congress voted in favor of the tax and spend infrastructure bill, while the Republicans in the delegation voted against it.

In light of the sustained high levels of inflation, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business that “we need to put a pause button on government spending [and] get inflation under control.”

He also argued that “it’s the exact wrong time to be raising taxes," in reference to the infrastructure spending bill.

The Consumer Price Index increased by 0.6% in October according to an Axios report, surpassing economists’ predictions that it would rise by 0.4%. This increase also eclipsed September’s 0.2% increase.

“We expected inflation would get worse before it got better, but not this much worse. Particularly painful is the increase in food prices as we approach the holidays, and the rise in energy prices as we plan to travel more to family get-togethers,” wrote Robert Frick, a corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.

“However, both those increases are likely to be temporary, and the forecasts that inflation overall will drop early-to-mid-next year still seems credible,” he added.

Overall prices rose by 6.2% compared to a year ago, making it the sharpest annual increase in over 30 years, Axios reports. Fuel and oil prices rose dramatically once again in October, increasing by 12.3%, up from 3.9% in September.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures index also rose by the highest rate on record again in September. This is the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve.

A Nov. 10 report by Zero Hedge states the inflation surge was driven mainly by the increased cost of energy, shelter, food and vehicles, indicating that rising prices are occurring due to factors beyond those associated with the reopening of the economy. The food at home index increased 5.4% over the past 12 months as every one of the six major grocery store food group indexes rose over the period.