Inflation, rising interest rates and a number of other factors have the “R” word creeping back into the vocabulary.
Yes, more and more experts are convinced a recession is on the horizon.
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A recent poll by Reuters found that 40% of economists believe the U.S. will experience a recession sometime in the next two years, while a Wall Street Journal poll found that 28% of economists believe it will happen in the next year.
The good news, readers, is that if a recession does happen, you’re in the best place to ride one out.
Merchant Maverick, a website that reviews and compares small-business software and services, says in a recent report that Nebraska is the best place to be if the country falls back into recession.
Nebraska’s composite score in the report was 78.8, well ahead of second-place North Dakota, which scored 72.2.
Here’s what Merchant Maverick had to say about Nebraska:
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“Though Nebraska may not be the first state that comes to mind when discussing economic powerhouses, the Cornhusker State looks to be on solid footing when it comes to surviving the next recession. With ample government reserves (23.1%), a great debt-to-income ratio (0.62), and the lowest unemployment rate in the nation (2.3%), Nebraska sets the pace for the rest of what looks to be a recession-resistant Upper Midwest region.
“One more reason to run for cornfields instead of the hills if the economy flatlines: Nebraska weathered the Great Recession better than most other states.”
You can see the report and rankings at: merchantmaverick.com/best-states-survive-recession.
Another No. 1 ranking
Perhaps one of the reasons Nebraska weathers recessions so well is because we have a population that is financially literate.
Personal finance website WalletHub ranked the state No. 1 is its 2022’s Most & Least Financially Literate States report, which was released this month.
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The ranking was based on 17 metrics, ranging from the financial literacy grade of high-schoolers to the share of adults who have rainy-day funds.
WalletHub did not disclose state rankings for individual metrics, but instead for three categories. Nebraska was third overall for financial planning and habits, sixth for financial knowledge and education and 28th when it came to “wallet literacy.”
You can see the full report at: tinyurl.com/mt3fd5d9.
Rents on the rise
Anybody who rents an apartment or house knows that rents have been climbing, even during the pandemic.
The Washington Post on Thursday had a story about the increase in rent nationwide, using data from real estate firm CoStar.
That data showed the Lincoln metro area has seen its average rent jump 10% over the past two years to more than $1,000 a month. While that’s nowhere near the highest increases nationally — which were as much as 39% in Naples, Florida — it’s still high.
Lincoln’s 10% increase was higher than the increases in Omaha, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux Falls and Wichita. It was also higher than pricey college towns such as Madison, Wisconsin, and Fort Collins, Colorado.
Another report, from Apartment List, puts Lincoln’s two-year rent growth from March 2020-March 2022 at 14.8%, including an 11.7% gain just in the past year.
The states with the lowest minimum wage relative to cost of living
States With the Lowest Minimum Wage Relative to Cost of Living
Photo Credit: fongbeerredhot / Shutterstock
The pandemic-era economy has many unusual and uncertain features that have made it difficult to analyze. And one of the major open questions is what this economic period will do to wages and prices long-term.
On one hand, wages are increasing at a faster rate than they have since the depths of the Great Recession. Many employers are raising their wages—especially in lower-earning jobs—to attract more workers at a time when unemployment is high; however, businesses are struggling to fill positions. At the same time, rising prices and inflation are a fear, but economic experts disagree about whether the economy is in the midst of a problematic inflationary period. One school of thought holds that price increases are transitory, attributable to temporary conditions like supply chain breakdowns, while another suggests that the federal government’s aggressive stimulus during the pandemic has pumped too much money into the economy.
While current economic conditions starkly illustrate the tension between wages and the real value of the dollar, the phenomenon is nothing new. And this tension is at the heart of debates over whether to raise the minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage was first created in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which originally set the minimum wage at $0.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage is not automatically indexed to inflation or any other economic indicator, which means that it takes an act of Congress to raise the minimum. Historically, Congress has passed increases every few years to reflect inflation and the changing purchasing power of the dollar. But the last minimum wage increase took place in 2009 to $7.25 per hour, and the time between then and now represents the longest-ever period without an increase. Even before the recent worries about inflation, normal changes in cost of living have made it harder and harder for the lowest-wage workers to subsist on that amount.
The real value of the fed min wage is worth 43% less than in 1968
The result of requiring Congress to act to raise the federal minimum wage is that the real value of the wage has fluctuated over time. At its peak in 1968, the minimum wage was worth $12.77 in 2020 dollars. When the last minimum wage increase took effect in 2009, the wage was worth $9.22 per hour in 2020 dollars. This means that the real value of the current $7.25 wage is down 43% from its historical peak, down 21% since the last increase, and at one of its lowest-ever levels in recent history.
The federal minimum wage is just one tool for increasing workers’ pay. Another major policy lever is state minimum wages. Currently, 30 states have enacted their own minimum wages above the federal minimum of $7.25, ranging from as low as $8.75 to $14 in nation-leading California. Most of the states with higher minimum wages are located in the western or northeastern U.S., where cost of living tends to be higher.
Only 30 states have min wages above the federal min of 7.25
In some of the 20 states that have not raised the minimum wage, cost of living is low, so the federal minimum wage does not create as much pressure on household finances. In others, however, the real value of the minimum wage relative to cost of living is much lower, and low-wage workers may have a harder time getting by.
To determine the states with the lowest minimum wage relative to cost of living, researchers at Self Financial calculated the cost-of-living adjusted minimum wage in each state using minimum wage data compiled from state government websites, cost-of-living data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Here are the states with the lowest minimum wage relative to cost of living.
15. Indiana
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $8.17
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -11.3%
- Poverty rate: 11.9%
14. Iowa
Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $8.15
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -11.0%
- Poverty rate: 11.2%
13. Kansas
Photo Credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $8.13
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -10.8%
- Poverty rate: 11.4%
12. North Dakota
Photo Credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $8.12
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -10.7%
- Poverty rate: 10.6%
11. Tennessee
Photo Credit: Mihai_Andritoiu / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $8.08
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -10.3%
- Poverty rate: 13.9%
10. South Carolina
Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.92
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -8.5%
- Poverty rate: 13.8%
9. North Carolina
Photo Credit: Farid Sani / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.91
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -8.3%
- Poverty rate: 13.6%
8. Wisconsin
Photo Credit: f11photo / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.89
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -8.1%
- Poverty rate: 10.4%
7. Idaho
Photo Credit: Charles Knowles / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.86
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -7.8%
- Poverty rate: 11.2%
6. Wyoming
Photo Credit: Real Window Creative / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.81
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -7.2%
- Poverty rate: 10.1%
5. Georgia
Photo Credit: Luciano Mortula-LGM / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.78
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -6.8%
- Poverty rate: 13.3%
4. Texas
Photo Credit: Ryan Conine / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.51
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -3.5%
- Poverty rate: 13.6%
3. Utah
Photo Credit: Maciej Bledowski / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.51
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -3.5%
- Poverty rate: 8.9%
2. Pennsylvania
Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $7.47
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): -3.0%
- Poverty rate: 12.0%
1. New Hampshire
Photo Credit: Jon Bilous / Shutterstock
- Minimum wage (cost-of-living adjusted): $6.81
- Minimum wage (actual): $7.25
- Cost of living (compared to average): +6.5%
- Poverty rate: 7.3%
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