"In the US, there was a big rise in the unemployment rate to just under 20% in April, before falling back steadily to 7.1% in November. But wage growth actually

"In the US, there was a big rise in the unemployment rate to just under 20% in April, before falling back steadily to 7.1% in November. But wage growth actually rose sharply, and was 5.9% in November. The picture is the same in the UK. After an initial drop into negative territory earlier this year, there was a sharp rise for -2.9% wage growth to 3.2% in October. So, everyone is better off right? Actually not. XpertHR, a consultancy specialising in pay, reported that pay settlements limped towards year end with median settlements at 2%. Labour economists have never seen anything like this before. It appears that what has happened both in the UK and the US is that the lower part of the wage distribution – the lowest-paid workers – has just dropped out." Very interesting. In Australia we've seen 15+ years of wage stagnation. Will salaries rise with inflation? Traditionally we'd have said that, yes they will. But perhaps not this time. Supply and demand laws in the labour market are not working as expected it seems. Maybe. We shall see! :-)