In addition, nominal hourly wages and salaries have risen faster than prices over the past several quarters, meaning that workers have reaped some of the benefits of rising productivity and thus gained ground in real terms.
Outside the food and energy sectors, increases in consumer prices have actually continued to edge lower, with core CPI inflation of only 2½ percent over the past twelve months. The low inflation of the past year is both a symptom and a cause of the good economy.