If it feels harder to get ahead right now, that’s because it is. Many Americans are navigating a “worst-of-both-worlds” economy: a cooling job market on one side and stubborn inflation on the other.

Prices aren’t rising as rapidly as they once were when the U.S. economy roared back after the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, the largest share of workers in four years (62 percent) say that their paychecks have not kept pace with increases in their household expenses due to inflation over the past 12 months, according to Bankrate’s annual Pay Raise Survey.

The trouble for workers is the cumulative toll of inflation. Slowing inflation isn’t the same as lower prices, and costs are still rising more quickly than they used to before the pandemic. In some cases, they’re even accelerating, as busines

See Full Page