*By Michael Teich*
Corporate shareholders may [benefit](https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/16/investing/stock-buybacks-tax-law-bonuses/index.html) from tax cuts, but American workers aren't really profiting, said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.
"It's globalization, the ability of employers to [replace labor](https://cheddar.com/videos/selerity-exec-a-i-in-finance-will-shift-from-consumers-to-workers) with technology," Hamrick said Friday in an interview with Cheddar. "Workers are not getting the bulk of these tax cuts. Workers have perhaps some appropriate reason to be a bit disappointed."
The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate in the U.S. dropped to 3.9 percent. But as unemployment falls, inflation is rising, and companies are squeamish about tariffs.
"Inflation has been running at an annual rate of about 2 percent, meaning that real wages are making little progress," Hamrick said.
Though average hourly earnings rose 2.7 percent for the second straight month, when inflation's factored in, workers are taking home less than a percent more in earnings.
Now is the time, Hamrick said, to save for retirement and emergencies.
The U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in July, missing estimates of 193,000 but marking the 94th consecutive month of growth.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-reason-youre-not-getting-a-raise).
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
