A Friday News Release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that consumer spending increased by 0.8% in August of 2021. The report’s analysis declared: “The increase in personal income in August primarily reflected increases in compensation of employees and government social benefits. Within compensation, the increase primarily reflected an increase in private wages and salaries.”

The Covid19 pandemic ushered in substantial changes in the American work-force. Millions of Americans decided to retire early because they didn’t want to be exposed to the risk of getting sick. Covid also hit front line service and retail workers harder than any other population. Although official figures have not been tabulated, with more than 700,000 Americans having died of Covid, it’s reasonable to presume that the US economy has lost anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 essential retail and service sector employees to the pandemic.

Following the Black Plague in Europe, a shortage of workers led to an increase in participation in trade guilds and an improved standard of living for the working class. It appears that same phenomena may be occurring in the US today, as employers complain of a shortage of workers for many lower paying jobs. Ultimately, this change in the composition of the labor force is likely to lead to older workers returning to the labor force to benefit from higher rates of pay once the pandemic has abated, and a rebalancing of the retail and service industry as wages increase, and companies that are less able to adapt to a higher wage environment go out of business. The end result may be more respect, better treatment, and a higher standard of living for non-college-educated workers as older workers are less likely to tolerate service and retail sector managers who make petty and Napoleonic demands, and the “everyone is replaceable” attitude that is a staple attitude of managers in many large food-service and retail chains becomes a major impediment to maintaining staffing levels.