U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reported that wage growth is outpacing inflation, particularly for lower-income and blue-collar workers under the Trump administration. Treasury data shows a 2% real wage gain for workers in the bottom 25% of earners, with blue-collar workers seeing 1.7% wage growth in the first five months of the current term. The Atlanta Fed Wage Growth Tracker recorded 3.6% growth for the lowest income quartile as of June 2026, compared to 3.9% for the top income quartile. After adjusting for inflation, average hourly earnings rose 3.5% year-over-year through March 2026, translating to a real wage increase of 0.3%. Bessent used these figures to declare the end of the K-shaped economy, a term describing a recovery where high earners surged ahead while lower-income workers stagnated.
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