Real wages are lower than 2020 and consumer spending is slowing; Nigel Farage UK’s next prime minister?
Millions of Americans of the workforce may no longer have the spending power to meaningfully affect the statistics. Many people are puzzled about the disconnect between how well the US economy is doing and how badly Americans feel about it.
An economy in which millions of workers are economically invisible may ultimately encounter bigger problems.
A sizable percentage of full-time US workers, possibly as many as two-thirds, don’t earn enough to sustain a family of four. That’s a harder problem to solve than inflation.
Real wages are lower than they were in 2020 and consumer spending is indeed slowing, yet the economy hums along.
The top 10% of earners now account for about half of consumer spending.
The shrinking economic footprint of three-fifths of America’s workforce raises some uncomfortable questions.
It’s clear to me that ignoring the frustration workers are expressing will eventually threaten the whole economy; growing divisions, possible social unrest and declining confidence in US institutions, including our indispensable free markets.
Nir Kaissar is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering markets. He is the founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm.
Bloomberg 25 September 2025
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