The US economy is splitting in two, and it is bad news for anyone whose only asset is their paycheck while the wealthy keep pulling ahead.

• Official averages say the economy is strong, but most people say it feels terrible, and both are true depending on where you sit.
• Since the 2021–2022 lockdowns, the rich have grown richer because they own assets and can borrow and invest in ways ordinary people cannot.
• Wages have lost real value since 2022, so workers who rely only on their labor have effectively been made poorer.
• More Americans are falling into the struggling bottom group than are climbing into the thriving top, even as the number of billionaires keeps growing.

Outlook: The gap between the two economies is set to keep widening unless wages catch up with the cost of living.