You are a public relations advisor for local firefighters who are threatening to strike on the grounds that since 2000 the city council hasn't given a real raise. The mayor retorts that the median salary for firefighters in 2000 was $31,500, and that today the median salary is $43,500, a raise of $12,000. You want to attack that argument by accounting for the effects of inflation (CPI in 2000 was 172.2 and today it's 243.8). So how much additional buying power -- if any -- do firefighters at the median salary have today as compared to 17 years ago? (Pick the answer that it closest to your calculation; rounding may give you a slightly different result.)
$6,700 more
$775 more
$227 more
$23 more
Firefighters actually have about $1,100 LESS buying power.