Wage Growth Is Holding Up in Aftermath of the Economic Crash

The pay increases are giving Democrats a bragging point. But it comes with risks: Gains could fade, or spark quicker price inflation.

When millions of workers were getting layoff notices last spring, Sharon McCown got something different: a raise. Target, where Ms. McCown was earning $13 an hour stocking shelves and helping customers, gave frontline workers an extra $2 an hour in hazard pay in the early months of the pandemic. The company later raised starting pay permanently to $15 an hour, and paid out a series of bonuses to hourly employees. The extra pay, combined with relief checks from the federal government and the forced savings that came with pandemic life, means Ms. McCown, who is 62 and lives in Louisville, Ky., will emerge from the pandemic in better financial shape than she was in before it.