Heard on the Hill
The U.S. Wage Picture: Inflation May Be Outstripping Real Growth, Blunting Saving Opportunities - USAFacts
“From September 2025 to September 2026, wages grew 0.11 percentage points slower than inflation. Nominal wages — the literal dollars earned regardless of cost of living — increased by 3.6% while inflation stood at 3.7%. When wage growth trails inflation, it indicates that workers are experiencing a decrease in purchasing power from the previous year.”
That opening statement from USAFacts Economy page reflects just a single measurement year, but it may be indicative of a longer trend that could further aggravate Social Security’s long-term funding problem. If the inflation rate used to determine the program’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is high, the compounding cost of providing benefits could grow at an unrealistic pace, while leaving younger workers constrained in their ability to save for their retirement years.
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