AI Summary
5 min readIn the July jobs report released last Friday, wage growth fell to its slowest pace in five years—average hourly earnings are still rising, but at a much weaker clip. Meanwhile, inflation isn't really slowing much either. That mismatch between high prices and decelerating paychecks is the dominant economic story this week, setting up the July consumer price index (Wednesday), producer price index (Thursday), and retail spending report (Friday) as critical reads on whether consumers are cracking under the pressure.
The wage-inflation squeeze on households
One year ago, prices were rising 2.7% year over year while average hourly pay grew 4%. Now prices are rising 3.5% annually, but wage growth has fallen below that. Marketplace's Mitchell Harmon reported that consumers aren't running that calculation consciously, but Ipsos' Johnny Sawyer said they feel it: their cost of living is up and they think the economy isn't doing well. Employers aren't under pressure to boost wages because workers are staying put, looking for security. You're not seeing huge sign-on bonuses anymore.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:01) **Intro: The Two Big Stories This Week** - Kai Ryssdal sets up the week ahead, framing inflation and the labor market as the top economic stories.
- 2 (02:08) **The Squeeze: High Inflation + Slowing Wages** - Mitchell Hartman reports on the real-world impact of consumers facing rising prices and falling purchasing power.
- 3 (04:55) **Bed Bath & Beyond’s Radical Reinvention** - The parent company of Bed Bath & Beyond is rebranding as "Neighborhood Intelligence" and pivoting into home services like flooring, insurance, and mortgages.
- 4 (08:06) **The Case for (and Against) the Paper Check** - Professor Jay Zagorski joins to defend the paper check as Germany, Australia, and the US federal government move to phase them out.
- 5 (13:11) **The Rural Population Rebound** - The USDA reports a net population gain of 430,000 people in rural areas between 2021 and 2024, driven by remote work and affordable housing.
- 6 (17:23) **Market Numbers** - A brief rundown of the day's market performance.
- 7 (20:34) **A Bright Spot: The Temp Hiring Boom** - Stephanie Hughes reports on a surprising positive sign from the July jobs report: the temporary help industry is adding workers.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
More bad news from last week’s jobs report: Wage growth slowed to 3.2%, the lowest yearly rate in five years. Combine that with high inflation, and consumers are losing purchasing power. In this episode, where did the wage growth go? Plus: Temp firms report increased demand, Bed, Bath & Beyond’s parent company wants to expand into services, and Pringles implements AI on the production line.
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Read the stories in today’s episode:
- U.S. consumers' real earnings have been falling
- Why Bed Bath & Beyond's parent company is pivoting to mortgages and flooring
- Should we ditch paper checks? You probably write more than you think
- She chose rural South Carolina over Italy and England
- One bright spot in an otherwise-meh labor market? Temp jobs
- A new kind of AI chip: Pringle-making gets optimized by artificial intelligence
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