Americans have one big gripe when it comes to work: They would like more money.

Only 30% of Americans are satisfied with their pay, compared with 34% last year, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center, reflecting the ongoing burden of recent price increases. Most workers who voiced frustration about their pay – 80% – said it was because their wages hadn’t kept up with the higher costs of living, and more than half said they didn’t earn enough to pay their bills.

“Our data paints a mixed picture of the American workforce: Most workers feel good about their job security, but only half are highly satisfied overall and fewer are highly satisfied with their pay,” said Luona Lin, a research associate at Pew and lead author of the report.

The findings, released this week, show how a years-long run-up in prices continues to weigh on families even though inflation has recently stabilized. The annual inflation rate, at 2.7%, has slowed from last year’s reading of 3.1% and dropped dramatically from a summer 2022 peak of 9.1%, according to the latest consumer price index report, released Wednesday.

Still, many Americans are having trouble keeping up. “Large majorities of workers across all family income levels say their pay hasn’t kept up with cost-of-living increases,” the report found.

Despite the discontent with wages, there is general positivity about work: Half of Americans say they are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall, according to Pew. And 69% say they have a great deal or fair amount of job security.

By most measures, the job market remains remarkably strong. Unemployment, at 4.2%, is near longtime lows, and employers are generally laying off fewer people than they were before the pandemic.

As a result, a majority of workers – 52% – said it would be difficult to get the kind of job they’d want if they were to look for a new position, up from 37% in 2022. That was especially the case among workers in their teens and 20s, and those with lower incomes, Pew found.

The survey, conducted in early October, asked 5,274 U.S. workers how they feel about their jobs.

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