Raw Data: Blue Collar Wages During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Here’s something you might not have seen before: average earnings of blue collar workers over the past few months. Thanks to the rescue bills—primarily the CARES Act—average pay for blue collar workers has gone up 4 percent since February:

And what are people doing with this extra money? Putting it in the bank and then drawing it down:

Workers drew down $3 trillion in savings in May and June. At this rate, the extra savings generated by the CARES Act will be gone by the end of August. September is going to be a very grim month for a lot of people if Congress doesn’t get itself back in session quickly and pass another rescue bill. Because it’s a dead certainty that COVID-19 won’t be gone by then.

Fact:

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