As Inflation Heats Up, 64% of Americans Are Now Living Paycheck To Paycheck

As daily life gets more expensive, workers are having a harder time making ends meet. From a report: While wage growth is high by historical standards, it isn't keeping up with the increased cost of living, which is growing at the fastest annual pace in about four decades. "Wages are up 5.1% over the past year, which is trailing the pace of inflation," said Bankrate.com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. "Indeed, surging prices are stealing the show on the minds of consumers." When wages rise at a slower pace than inflation, those paychecks won't go as far at the grocery store and at the gas pump -- two areas of the budget that are getting particularly squeezed. At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.

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