American workers are demanding almost $80,000 a year to take a new job – By Jeff Cox (CNBC) / Aug 21, 2023
- The amount of money most workers want now to accept a job reached a record high this year.
- Employers have been trying to keep pace with the wage demands, pushing the average full-time offer up to $69,475, a 14% surge in the past year.
- The numbers are significant in that wages increasingly have been recognized as a driving force in inflation.
The amount of money most workers want now to accept a job reached a record high this year, a sign that inflation is alive and well at least in the labor market.
According to the latest New York Federal Reserve employment survey released Monday, the average “reservation wage,” or the minimum acceptable salary offer to switch jobs, rose to $78,645 during the second quarter of 2023.
That’s an increase of about 8% from just a year ago and is the highest level ever in a data series that goes back to the beginning of 2014. Over the past three years, which entails the Covid-19 pandemic era, the level has risen more than 22%.
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