Comment by canyonero

Speaking about the US only (w/o actual data to back it up, just a feeling over the last year) is that lower-wage jobs have been on the rise out of the sheer necessity for businesses to attract warm bodies. Folks in the middle (low-middle -> high-middle( have had their wages depressed and lowered while the wealthiest individuals have had no impact or have seen their wages increased at or beyond inflation. The combination of very wealthy folks doing better and the lower income earners having higher wages has created dissonance around the reporting in the overall health of the economy IME.