U.S. · CNBC Technology
AI's potential role is drawing more attention
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 source. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
The latest nonfarm payrolls report isn't the only source of government data showing deceleration in wage growth.
Key facts
- But it also caveated its study as "early evidence" that was based on a limited subset of BLS job categories, only 321 of roughly 800 BLS occupations could be used, and only 11 met the study's
- Their research showed that accounting clerks experienced wage gains of 39% compared to 40 years ago, even though employment fell by 32%
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Cost Index showed that inflation-adjusted wages and salaries decreased 0.4 percent year over year through June
- Their research found that workers in occupations classified as highly exposed to AI experienced real-wage growth that was 6.7 percentage points slower after 2023 than workers in less-exposed
Summary
Job growth beat expectations in August, but wage growth has lagged the latest inflation readings, adding urgency to a question economists are only beginning to wrestle with: Could AI pressure workers' pay before it costs them their jobs? There are reasons to avoid a rush to judgment. But the current labor market situation is leading more people to focus on the job earnings growth trend line rather than dire warnings like the recent one from Bill Gates about widespread job losses. A recent study from Apollo Global Management's chief economist Torsten Slok and his co-author Sania Edlich offers some evidence consistent with AI contributing to slower wage growth.