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Is Your 2022 Pay Raise Really a Pay Cut? Is Your Job Ignoring Inflation?
The past couple of years have been challenging for everyone from companies to their employees. But finally, it’s the time of the year. Your boss calls you into their office to talk about your yearly performance.
Your boss asks you to sit down, starts to tell you all of the good things you have done for the company, and tells you your work is greatly appreciated. They then congratulate you by rewarding you with a 2% raise in pay for the year.
Inflation
You are excited at first about the increase in your pay. After work, you go to your grocery store and buy a gallon of milk and realize the price increased from $3.38 to $3.66, which is about an 8% increase. After that, you go to fill up your car’s gas tank so you won't have to rush in the morning and pay $4.25 a gallon. You think to yourself, last year this time it was only about $3.25 a gallon, what is going on?
This is inflation you are currently seeing? Remember how your grandparents said they were able to see a movie at the theaters for only a dollar back in their time, but now you can’t walk into a theater for less than $10. This price jump was due to gradual inflation over the years. Inflation is the general increase in prices and therefore the fall in the purchasing value of money.
