Survey: Majority of Working Americans Struggling to Outpace Inflation

A new national survey reveals the majority of Americans are struggling to keep pace with the country's inflation surge, despite receiving pay boosts in the past year.

Here are the results from Bankrate's September Pay Raise survey:

• 61% of American workers either received a pay bump or accepted a better-paying job over the past 12 months.
• Among the workers who received raises, 36% attributed the pay bump to performance bonuses and 31% cited cost-of-living increases.
• Approximately 50% of the American workers who received raises in the past year say their current wages cannot keep up with inflation rates, which have hovered above 8% for six consecutive months (March-August 2022).
• 39% of the American respondents are worried about their job security in the coming year.

Greg McBride, Bankrate's chief financial analyst, released a statement regarding his company's findings: "Inflation that has run at the highest levels in more than four decades has stripped buying power away from households of all walks of life.

"Even half of those receiving a pay raise, getting a promotion or taking on new responsibilities said that higher pay falls short of the increase in household expenses," McBride added.

In the Bankrate survey, American respondents acknowledged gas prices are coming down, but prices for groceries, household goods and necessary energy sources are still rising.

"[This week's] higher-than-expected [consumer price index] reading shows that we still have a long way to go before inflation returns to more normal levels," said Scott Brave, lead consumer spending economist at Morning Consult. 

Brave added: "While the recent decline in gas prices has provided a welcome reprieve for consumers, it represents just one part of the larger consumer basket; and prices for much of that basket continue to increase at rates that far exceed incomes."

Regarding the generational differences in the survey, Bankrate reported that half of millennial and Gen Z employees said their wage increases matched or exceeded inflation.

However, only one-third of baby boomers and Generation X employees reported similarly significant pay bumps.

• Inflation Slows Slightly but Remains High at 8.3%
• Stephen Moore to Newsmax: Rising Cost of Necessities 'Killing American Families'