It doesn't really matter where you stand on the political spectrum or who your favorite politician is. The odds are pretty much guaranteed that you've been lied to by this person or these people, and a lot more than once. Politicians rarely speak the truth to their voting bloc, which is especially true in America. Over the past few months, President Joe Biden and his Administration have been front and center taking credit for "creating jobs" that they objectively had no hand in creating. It is demonstrably true that these jobs are almost all coming from states that have rescinded their COVID restrictions. What this means is that "new" jobs aren't being created; these are all old jobs coming back, and Biden is taking credit even though he tried to stop them from coming back.

Another thing Biden has taken credit for is pay increasing for the first time in years, with most employed people making more than the minimum wage, even in starter positions and in jobs with a high turnover rate, such as fast food. Though despite how often and loudly Biden and his administration brag about jobs created or pay increasing, the January Jobs Report threatens to undo that illusion, and the corporate news media structure is currently figuring out how to brace for reality while looking for ways to spin the news into a positive. The fact is that most experts are declaring that the numbers cannot be ignored. More people are unemployed and underpaid than what the White House claims.

It Truly is a Numbers Game

To be clear, the entirety of America's economy is a numbers game, and too few people actually know what's really going on. When Joe Biden stands on a podium and claims that more people are making more money than at any other time in American history, people are generally going to believe this in some sense, especially because they're seeing it plastered all over corporate media. However, what Biden fails to tell you, and what the corporate media will never tell you, is that this "more money" line is an average that was aggregated from all Americans' salaries. What does this mean? It means the young single mother barely getting by on a part-time job is having her salary added up with Elon Musk and Bill Gates, and you are supposed to believe that the "average" of those numbers is an accurate reflection of the American economy. Some more cynical people may suggest that this is outright propaganda to make an administration seem like it's succeeding where it is only failing. All that the numbers suggest is that people in mid-tier to lower income brackets are not making more money, which the Jobs Report will reflect.

It's Inflation and Always Is

Why aren't people making more money? It's really all down to the buying power of the American dollar (USD). The dollar, over the past year and change, has lost another 20% of its value. So, while Walmart and Apple are paying people $15/hour to start, the fact is that their money doesn't stretch nearly as far now. Making $600 per week is only getting them as far as $300 per week, compared to 2020. This means that, mathematically speaking per the value of the USD, the average person in the working class is actually making less than minimum wage when adjusted for inflation. Why anyone would brag about this and shine a light on it is anyone's guess. Though when you have the entire corporate media apparatus on your side, you can say anything you want and never be questioned.

Some Sectors Are Doing Great

There are a lot of sectors that are doing great. People who own the big box stores are making money like they've never seen before. Stock brokers, bankers, all the usual suspects; they're making money faster than they can count. Again, however, the trick America's government is playing is by rolling them in with the general population to inflate the numbers. Normal people in basic wage jobs are not making more and are in fact suffering a lot more. Though once you conflate their numbers with Wall Street and corporate owners, etc, you get to paint a picture that the "average American" is doing great.

There's the mathematical average and then there's the working class average person. The average person is struggling more now than in decades, and they're fearful that a government that absolutely refuses to be honest about it may not be in a hurry to help solve these problems.