Workers in these two industries are the only ones coming out ahead right now

But in reality, only workers in two industries -- leisure and hospitality and retail trade -- are actually coming out ahead, once inflation is taken into account.

Overall, wages and salaries for private industry workers rose by 4.2% between December 2019 and this past June, before rising prices are considered, according to an analysis of Employment Cost Index quarterly data by Jason Furman, an economics professor at Harvard University.

However, once inflation is factored in, paychecks actually shrank by 1.2% over that time period, the analysis found.

Wage increases for leisure and hospitality workers and for retail employees had been 2% and 1.2%, respectively, over the two years ending December 2021.

Employers in lower-wage industries really had to boost pay in order to hire and maintain the staff needed to meet demand in 2021, said Skanda Amarnath, executive director of Employ America, which advocates for a high-wage, high-employment economy.

"Right now, CPI is just way too strong relative to everything else," he said of the Consumer Price Index, a popular inflation measure.

And where they are falling

In all other industries, inflation-adjusted wages have dropped since the end of 2019, led by utility workers with a 2.7% decline.

Those employed in construction and information technology have seen their pay slip by 1.8%, while manufacturing and financial sector workers have experienced a 1.7% drop.

Even wholesale trade workers, such as truck drivers, who have also been in demand during the pandemic as supply chains snarled, have lost ground.