New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- If you've felt your paycheck isn't going quite as far in recent months, you're not imagining it. Wages are not keeping up with inflation and there's a very real possibility this squeeze could persist.

Americans have experienced five straight months of zero or negative wage growth so far this year when adjusted for the impact of high inflation-and likely weathered another downturn last month.

The latest employment data released Friday show average hourly earnings for all employees rose only 0.1% month over month in September, translating to a 3% annual gain. That was notably lower than economists expected and a deceleration from August's 3.1% annual pace.

When factoring in the effects of inflation, real wages look s...