Despite recent enthusiasm real incomes are under pressure. With the 0.5% hike in the December U.S. CPI, real wages fell 0.4% and have fallen in 3 of the 4 last four months. The pace over the past 6 months is now running just 0.15% above zero; way below the 3.6% trend of mid-2010 & the annualized 3-month trend is even worse. No matter how you slice it, wage growth is dramatically slowing and is barely positive