{
  "id": 7338666,
  "title": "Study provides 'early evidence' that AI could be holding back US wage growth and reducing living standards",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/study-provides-early-evidence-that-ai-could-be-holding-back-us-wage",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-14T14:35:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/pro/study-provides-early-evidence-that-ai-could-be-holding-back-us-wage-growth-and-reducing-living-standards"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study by Apollo Global Management has suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) might be hindering US wage growth and diminishing living standards. The research focuses on highly exposed occupations, which are seeing slower wage growth due to AI productivity gains. Around 5.8 million US workers, or approximately 3.7% of the labor force, are working in these roles.\n\nThe study estimates that real wage growth in highly exposed occupations has been about 6.7 percentage points lower than in less-exposed occupations since 2023, while employment levels remain relatively unchanged. According to the report, companies are capturing AI productivity gains through wage compression instead of workforce reduction. This means that workers are accomplishing more thanks to AI, leading to a decrease in demand for additional labor and weakening workers' bargaining power.\n\nThe effects of this could amount to a loss of around $28 billion in annual labor income, though this number might be conservative. Crucially, the analysis indicates that AI is more likely affecting the price of labor rather than the quantity of labor as human-AI hybrid workforces become more prevalent.\n\nApollo's research warns that AI could have profound implications for income inequality and living standards, potentially threatening workers globally. While the study does not provide specific remedies, it emphasizes the need for government involvement and policymaking to slow down the transition and offer more support to impacted workers.",
  "summary": "While AI isn't being observed taking human jobs, analysts have seen it reducing how quickly you're likely to get a pay rise.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}