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.

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We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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