The cost of living is rising faster than wages can keep up
The good news is that wages are rising! The bad news is the cost of living is rising … even faster. The net effect of these two phenomena is that “real” wages, AKA earnings relative to inflation, have actually fallen by 0.5 percent since last year. Prices for groceries have risen due to supply chain bottlenecks, rents are up as more people return to cities, and gas prices have spiked during a particularly volatile moment in the oil markets, The Wall Street Journal reports. So much for a pandemic recovery.
