How inflation is wiping out pay raises. Plus, how Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s mask mandate ban has plunged Virginia’s public schools into chaos. 

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After years of barely budging, wage growth is finally at its highest level in decades. Workers have more negotiating power than many ever imagined, and average hourly wages rose 4.7 percent last year. But, as economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai explains, the same strong recovery that is emboldening workers is also driving up inflation, leaving most Americans with less spending power than they had a year ago.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) banned mask mandates in public schools recently. Now, school districts are suing in the name of science. National education writer Laura Meckler says this is not an isolated incident. Many states are dealing with a fight to either support mask mandates or parents’ rights.