00:00A few months ago, the White House said your wages were rising rapidly.
00:04The pockets of nearly half the people who have kept their jobs say otherwise.
00:08Here's what's happening.
00:09Business Insider reports that before COVID,
00:12a typical 3% raise was enough to keep up with inflation.
00:15A University of Chicago booth and ADP study found that math broke after the pandemic.
00:21They found that more than 4 in 10 people who stayed at the same job
00:24from the end of 2020 to the end of 2024
00:26still make less in real terms from when they started.
00:29Now, many of you actually said this in the comments the last time we covered inflation.
00:33A raise doesn't really feel like a raise anymore.
00:36Turns out, you were right.
00:37Wage growth has lost to inflation for four straight months
00:40per the Bureau of Labor Statistics data crunched by Business Insider.
00:44ADP economist Nella Richardson says the raise that used to put you ahead
00:48now just means you're losing less slowly.
00:50And a big reason for why is the price at the gas pump.
00:53On August 14th, President Trump at a rally said that
00:56if you pay a tiny bit more for gas because of the Iran war,
00:59it's okay and I will never apologize.
01:02I'm not, I'll never apologize.
01:03I did the right thing.
01:05As of this recording, August 20th,
01:07the AAA national average for gas is $4.10 a gallon,
01:11on track for the highest August on record.
01:13Back in January, the White House said wages were rising rapidly.
01:17Americans' wages are rising.
01:19But Marketplace reported in July
01:21that real wages have been flat or negative
01:23most of this year with workers barely getting ahead.
01:27So if you're comfortable sharing,
01:29did your last raise get you ahead
01:30or did it just keep you from falling further behind?
01:33Let us know in the comments.
