Above photo: A customer puts the groceries he bought from the Northgate supermarket in a cart. Felipe Chacón/EFE.
New economic data and surveys reveal growing financial anxiety among US nationals, who are grappling with rising food prices and slowing wage growth. Nearly seven months after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the promised “golden age” has not materialized for most, according to polls.
According to a recent Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey, the vast majority of US adults feel stressed about food costs. This concern is particularly acute for low-income US residents, among whom 64% say grocery prices are one of their top sources of stress.
The survey also indicates that women and Hispanic people are the most affected by this situation, reporting higher levels of stress due to expenses such as housing, health care, and debt.
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows that wage growth for the lowest-earning 25% of workers plummeted to 3.7% annually in June this year, a sizable drop from the peak of 7.5% reached in late 2022. While wages for higher-income workers also slowed, the impact is smaller.
Furthermore, the labor market is showing signs of weakness. The US Department of Labor recently reported that the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in July. Downward revisions to job creation for May and June, which combined added 258,000 fewer positions than estimated, sparked controversy. In response, the White House fired the department’s chief statistician, citing alleged data manipulation.
These economic indicators, along with the 0.5% contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, have raised alarm bells about a possible recession and suggest that the financial outlook for Americans, especially the most vulnerable, is increasingly challenging.
