What happened
American paychecks have seen growth for the third consecutive month, even with high inflation rates. In August, real weekly wages increased by 0.3 percent compared to the same period last year. This marks the third straight month of year-over-year pay gains after adjusting for inflation.
Weekly wages are determined by multiplying the average hourly wages by the average workweek. Even when hourly wages do not keep pace with inflation, the purchasing power of paychecks can still rise if businesses are thriving and workers can put in more hours.
According to the data, inflation-adjusted weekly wages have risen in 16 out of the 18 months since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. This translates to real weekly wages being positive 89 percent of the time during his presidency. In contrast, during Biden's presidency, real weekly wages rose less than half of the time, at 46 percent.
