Higher rents were mostly offset by declining costs of goods such as motor vehicles and furniture.
If prices generally went down across the board, it would be indicative of producers being unable to sell their products, which means they produce less, which means they lay people off, which means we’re all out of work, which means we have no jobs or money, which means that a rich person’s incentive is to keep their money in a giant pile and not actually circulate it in the economy. With a little bit of inflation, the prices of things are stable enough for the average person to use currency without resorting to a barter system, and the rich person needs to invest their money in order to avoid the guarantee that they lose the value of that money to inflation. The report that we’re reading and commenting on shows a small real wage growth, meaning wages growing faster than inflation.
If prices generally went down across the board, it would be indicative of …
This is always what gets said. The real truth is that prices can go up and down for a lot of reasons and this line gets used as an excuse for our attempt-infinite-growth economic mindset.
… shows a small real wage growth, meaning wages growing faster than inflation
This is due to the (temporary) shift of power to the workers during the pandemic. I personally believe this “inflation” we’re experiencing now is a direct reprisal for that very small and very late wage increase. Profits are soaring all over, but belts are being tightened for (seemingly unknowable reasons) coming down from C level.
I recommend you do some digging into economics as to why we avoid deflationary environments and why that is always said. Remember also that profits are measured against a currency whose value has been eroded by inflation as well. Inflation is a fact of life. No need to put it in quotes.