US bosses rake in record profits while workers suffer

Trump has implemented tax cuts to benefit the super rich (pic: Wikimedia Commons)

The profits of the mega rich in the US have hit a record high while worker’s share has hit a historic low.

This is fuelling discontent among many workers in the US—and a growing political backlash.

Corporations’ pre-tax earnings hit $4.8 trillion in the second quarter, or 18 percent of national income, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is their highest share since the end of the Second World War.

Employees’ share from wages and benefits fell to 60 percent, the lowest level since the 1950s.

This year’s earnings bonanza has driven US equities to record peaks as the artificial intelligence boom fuels bumper profits for big tech. And Trump’s Iran war has bolstered fuel prices and oil behemoths’ margins.

But the corporate windfall is deepening US inequality. Bumper returns largely benefit the rich, who receive much of their income from investments. Middle and working class households rely on pay cheques. Inflation has also outpaced wage growth, causing real hourly earnings to fall by 0.2 percent in July compared to a year earlier.

“The gains that the top is seeing far, far, far outpace the gains—if any—that the bottom is seeing,” said Elizabeth Pancotti, vice-president of policy at the Groundwork Collaborative think-tank. “What we’re seeing today is that there are really two separate economies—one for people who make their primary income through investment and passive income and then typical workers who clock in day in and day out” she said.

Trump has implemented sweeping tax cuts that benefit companies and the rich, while slashing funding for benefit programmes such as food stamps.

A recent study found that chief executives at the largest low-wage employers in the US had seen their pay rise 41 percent between 2019 and 2025, while the average worker took home 21 percent more. This is below the 26 percent increase in prices over the same period.

The wealthiest 0.00001 percent, about 20 individuals, hold wealth equal to 12 percent of the US’s gross domestic output.

And it’s not just Elon Musk—the US is home to 989 billionaires. They owned more than $9.2 trillion in wealth in 2026, up 31.8 percent since 2025.

The yawning gap between the fortunes of the rich and those of workers is fuelling a growing backlash from voters alarmed at deepening inequality.

Members of the Democratic Socialists of America have beaten moderates in Democratic primary races. In New York, Zohran Mamdani swept to power as mayor last year after lashing out at “corporate greed”.

The decline in labour’s share of income has gained pace in the past five years and especially over the past 12 months.

In 2025, US workers took their smallest share of gross domestic product since 1947. The US inflation rate hit 4.2 percent in May 2026, wiping out a 3.4 percent rise in wage growth for the past year.

This is known as joyless growth. Sectors within the economy expand, but the growth deepens inequality and fuels rage.

Nearly half of all workers in the US, 66 million people, make less than the living wage of $25 an hour. That’s 66 million reasons to fight back