(Bloomberg) -- Paychecks are surging in some of the US cities with the highest rates of inflation, suggesting that a wage-price spiral is now firmly embedded in the economies of metro areas from Miami to Phoenix.
Nationwide, wages and salaries for non-government workers climbed 5.2% last quarter from a year earlier, according to Labor Department data published Friday. That marked a slight slowdown from the previous period. But in some cities, especially the ones where the cost of living has climbed most steeply, the increase was significantly bigger.
Miami and Phoenix posted record pay growth of 7.1% and 6.6% respectively. Other cities where the third-quarter increase was the highest on record include Atlanta, Minneapolis and Seattle.
The numbers point to underlying inflationary pressures that will not easily dissipate, and will likely keep the Federal Reserve on a course of steep interest-rate hikes.
The Labor Department’s employment cost index is a broad gauge of wages and benefits, which strips out the effects of changes in the composition of employment, such as the shift that occurred in the pandemic when many low-paid jobs at places like hotels and restaurants disappeared.
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