The specter of shrinking real wages is once again haunting the US economy. Based on April’s year-over-year consumer price index and average hourly earnings data, inflation outpaced wage growth for the first time since 2023.

Consumer prices rose 3.8% in April, the largest increase since May 2023, as energy prices spiked as a result of the Iran war. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings increased 3.6%, better than March’s 3.4% rise but short of the 3.9% gain a year prior.

The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, beating expectations and ending almost a year of bouncing back and forth each month between net job gains and losses.

Cory Stahle, senior economist at the job platform Indeed, said it was a good report overall, with stable unemployment of 4.3% as an encouraging sign, but he doesn’t think it’s enough to ease concerns of uncertainty in the job market.

“It’s too early to start celebrating and saying, ‘Hey, we’re at this turning point. Looks like the economy is all good,'” he said. “It’s still not clear how some of these structural things are going to play in and also how the conflict in Iran is going to pan out.”