US Wage Gains Increasingly K-Shaped in Largest Divide Since 2015

Wage growth among higher-income US households is now outpacing lower-earning cohorts by the widest margin in over a decade, according to an analysis by the Bank of America Institute.

While higher-income households’ after-tax wages and salaries climbed 5.6% in March from a year earlier, Bank of America Corp. deposit data showed, middle-income earners saw their pay rise a more tepid 2%. Wages among low-income groups advanced just 1%. The gap is the widest since the data series began in 2015.

The K-shaped pattern in wage growth is similar to the consumer demand trends described by many ...