You realize what you said contradicts the data that has been posted repeatedly in this topic?
Real wage growth surged post-pandemic, especially for lower-income workers.
Most economists have explained the vibes as: People blame inflation for increased prices but credit their own industriousness for wage gains, and are angry they don't get to basically double dip.
"Real" is a misnomer. Interest expenses aren't included in the CPI adjustment for real wage growth. Decreases in used/new vehicle prices wouldn't necessarily offset increases in food prices for someone taking public transit.
For a worker with credit card debt, or one who already struggles to afford public transit, the real wage growth is illusory.
Way to down vote my comment without posting that data you refer to. Nominal wages surged post-pandemic in Q2 2020, but cooled off after then. Someone already replied to my comment with a Brooking institute article which confirms the figures I had previously heard, in that real wages have only increased 2% annualized since 2019.
I didn't downvote anything, and I didn't re-post data because I assumed you already had it as a participant in this discussion.
A 2% annualized increase in real wages is excellent? Compare it to real wage increases elsewhere and you'll see that "only" is not the correct modifier to use.
Real wage growth surged post-pandemic, especially for lower-income workers.
Most economists have explained the vibes as: People blame inflation for increased prices but credit their own industriousness for wage gains, and are angry they don't get to basically double dip.