General Discussion

Throughout this era of robust wage growth, the biggest gains have been at the bottom of the pay scale. Even during the worst of inflation, low wage workers were seeing wage gains well in excess of inflation. When inlfation was 8 and 9%, low wage workers were seeing 10-12% wage growth. That's pretty remarkable in the US and not the usual. The floor has been effectively raised.

I think what you saw is a lot of entry level positions that were paying $12 and $13 an hour go to $17 and $18 an hour. Depending on the area, the new floor moved up significantly. People weren't willing to wash dishes for $12 an hour anymore at a restaurant when there was a warehouse job paying $17.50 an hour across town.