Wages & Income
22 posts in Wages & Income · page 1 of 2. ← All posts
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Income growth is slowing. For low-paid workers, real wages are falling.
March inflation jumped to 3.3% year over year, up from 2.4% in February. The main driver was gasoline as the Iran war pushed pump prices ...
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The Wage Data Went Dark at Exactly the Wrong Time
The government shutdown meant no October CPS was collected. Without it, the BLS couldn’t publish its Usual Weekly Earnings series for the...
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Economic Data Review: Q1 2026
The Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting today and is widely expected to hold the federal funds rate at 3.50-3.75 percent. With abo...
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Who pays for raising the retirement age
Social Security’s cost is projected to rise from 5.3% of GDP today to about 6% by 2055, according to the 2025 Trustees Report. That is le...
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After the thrill is gone
Consumer spending grew about 2 percent over the year ending December 2025, while total household income only increased by 1 percent. The ...
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Economic Divergence: The K-Shaped Economy’s Missing Story
Some economists have been highlighting a divergence in consumer spending. But the discussion is missing an important piece: the dramatic ...
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The Gender Wage Gap in 2025: Bigger Than You Think
The gender wage gap widened in 2025. Women working full-time now earn about 82 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, do...
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Who Benefits from a Jobless Boom?
US economic output is booming despite very weak job growth. By definition, this means existing workers are producing more. Many workers, ...
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Productivity-Pay Gap: Composition Issues
Some tools for thinking about the economy worked less well during the pandemic. One such instance involves the productivity-pay gap. A fa...
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Real Wage Measures
There’s been renewed discussion about real wages and the associated measurement issues. The main issue concerning these data in 2020 and ...
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Sources of Household Spending
The vibes debate popped back up last week. I wrote about this in September and in more depth earlier this month. Part of the recent discu...
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Real Wages, Inflation, and Consumer Sentiment
Wages are increasing faster than inflation. Additionally, wage growth rates are strongest for low-wage workers. Despite real wage growth,...