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Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, September 11th.

I'm J. R. Whelan for the Wall Street Journal. Over the past several years the

red-hot labor market forced managers to raise salaries to recruit and retain employees.

But now the labor market has cooled,

and companies are quietly reducing salaries.

This shows that the balance of power

has shifted back to employers and companies after a couple of

years where the balance of power was more on the job seeker side where they could

command a lot more and get a lot more.

We'll talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith after the break. After pay for many white collar positions fell over the last year, now salaries for new hires and

blue collar positions are also coming down.

Wall Street Journal reporter Ray Smith joins me.

Right, bring us up to date. Why was pay for any white collar salaries reduced?

It was reduced primarily because they had gotten out of control, some would say, a post-pandemic when there was overhiring.

So this is almost like a pay reset,

some would say a return to normal for pay,

which had gotten overheated when the job market was tighter and hotter.

...