Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC) commented on the large decline in the committee’s Working Family Stress Index during November.  During November, the Working Family Stress Index declined by 3.8 points to 25.6, its lowest level since January 2011.    The index has declined by 10.0 points, or nearly a third,  since its recent peak in May 2014.  The decline was powered by a 6.6% decline in the gasoline component of the Stress Inducing Price Index during the month.   

During November, the average weekly earnings component of the index rose 0.2%, while the Stress Inducing Price Index declined by 1.9%.  

“Falling gasoline prices are giving working families some badly needed and long overdue relief.  The drop in gasoline prices in November alone saved consumers around $180 million dollars at the pump.  Since July, the price drop has given working families more than $1 billion in purchasing power,” Brady said.

"Despite these gains, America's working families have still lost significant ground over the past decade. ‎Stress over the cost of living remains high," Brady continued.

“The economic recovery has not been kind to working families on Main Street.  Incomes have stagnated while the cost of providing food, education, medical care, and transportation has continued to rise.  Even with recent gains, the Working Family Stress Index remains more than four points higher than when the recession ended nearly 5 ½ years ago,”  Brady added.

“Recovery on Main Street has been hindered by substandard economic and income growth with too few jobs created in the private sector.  Congress and the President need to focus on closing this growth gap in output, jobs, and incomes.  The focus needs to be on unleashing the productive power of the private sector, not on government,” Brady concluded.

The Working Family Stress Index utilizes a special price index calculated for the JEC by staff at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that is comprised of four items: (1) food at home, (2) gasoline, (3) college tuition and fees, and (medical care).   For the earnings component the index utilizes an index of average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private sector payrolls.   This earnings measure was chosen because it reflects earnings of working class Americans.

A JEC staff analysis entitled Measuring Working Family Stress in Relation to the Cost of Living: Constructing a Beta Version of a Working Family Stress Index describes the methodology used to construct the index.  The Staff Analysis is available on the JEC Chairman’s website at:  jec.senate.gov/republicans.