The August jobs report showed good numbers in both the number of new jobs (+200K) and increased wages (up 2.9%).  The average pay went up $0.77 per hour to $27.16, which is roughly $1500 per year, but that is only half of the story.

If you combine the wage increase and the tax cuts, you basically double your “raise”.  No one is “average”, but if you are a married head of the house making $27.16 per hour with two children, here is what your economic situation would look like:

Obviously all of that money is not coming in a lump sum, but it means that the consumer economy will stay strong through the holiday’s, more income means more Christmas presents, which means better sales numbers for companies. Once the new year hits, people will start getting tax refunds and probably purchase big ticket items and maybe drive the housing market up.  In addition, with the “labor shortage” (as if that is a bad thing) going on, wages should continue to go up at least in the short term.

Retail companies bulk up their workforce for the holiday season, if companies are already competing to hire people, at least retail wages should go up nicely in September and October.