Iran War Erases U.S. Real Wage Gains as Gasoline Jumps 40.5%
Updated
Updated · People's World · Jun 18
Iran War Erases U.S. Real Wage Gains as Gasoline Jumps 40.5%
3 articles · Updated · People's World · Jun 18
Summary
$37.53 an hour — the inflation-adjusted pay of average non-supervisory workers in May — matched January 2025 levels, erasing all real wage gains made earlier in Trump’s second term.
A 40.5% nationwide rise in gasoline prices from May 2025 to May 2026 drove much of the squeeze, with 21.3% of that jump hitting in March just after the war began on Feb. 28.
Fuel oil climbed even faster, up 58.9% over the year, while overall CPI inflation ran at 4.2%, prompting EPI to warn that energy-led price shocks are now outpacing slowing nominal wage growth.
EPI said inflation has so far been concentrated in energy and airfares, but warned a prolonged war could spread price increases more broadly and further cut workers’ purchasing power.
A Roosevelt Institute survey underscored the strain: nearly 8 in 10 respondents worried about personal finances, and only 18% said they had avoided cutbacks or financial trade-offs in the past two years.