You have 10,000 top earning baby boomers retiring every day, being replaced by cheaper employees or perhaps not at all. That certainly affects wages. If you go to a restaurant or retail outlet the people you deal with today are nearly comatose. The better employees have moved on to better paying jobs, but the dregs are being hired because demand is there. Chick-fil-A seemed to be able to weather any storm but even now their employee quality is starting to slip.
Also unless you wages equal your expenses you will take a 3% raise and a 3% cost of living increase all day long. You are still taking home more money.