real wages

American  

[ree-uhl, reel] / ˈri əl, ril /

plural noun

Economics.

1. wages estimated not in money but in purchasing power.

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real wages British  

plural noun

1. economics wages evaluated with reference to their purchasing power rather than to the money actually paid Compare money wages

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real wages Cultural  

1. Wages adjusted for the prevailing level of consumer prices. (See also constant dollars.)

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Etymology

Origin of real wages

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

These range from the slowing economy, rising labor-market slack and stagnant real wages to the disinflationary — or deflationary — effect of artificial intelligence.

From MarketWatch

As the labor market softens, real wages are moderating.

From Barron's

By the time he was a teenager, he had lived through the 1982 debt crisis, then the devaluation of the peso, and the explosion of the maquiladora factory system, all of which conspired to sink real wages in northern Mexico dramatically.

From Slate

Going forward, the ILO said its modelling suggested that a moderate increase in trade policy uncertainty "may reduce returns to labour and, as a consequence, real wages for both skilled and unskilled workers across all sectors", especially in Southeast Asia, Southern Asia and Europe.

From Barron's

But what the President really needs is what he promised in the campaign, which is rising real wages.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• net income