CPI vs PCE inflation can leave a dramatically different view of where wages are.

The WSJ has an interesting article on how different measures of inflation change the wage debate.

The PCE index -- which is the Fed's preferred measure -- is persistently lower partly because it uses more aggressive assumptions about consumers substituting a similar item a lower priced version.

In the past few years, it hasn't made much of a different but in comparison to the 1970s, it's stark.