The economy is not yet there for many Americans.

The jobs report on Friday showed that the United States added an impressive 213,000 jobs in June. The recovery has brought unemployment down to historically low levels.

But the report, as is often the case, pointed to a crucial way in which the economy is still not firing on all cylinders: The strong demand for labor has not prompted employers to substantially increase how much they pay their employees.

Hourly earnings in June grew 2.7 percent from a year earlier. That’s more or less in line with the pace of the past two years. But now those modest wage gains are worth less in the real world. The reason: The prices of goods and services are picking up. In May, inflation hit 2.8 percent and grew faster than wages, which increased 2.75 percent. Inflation numbers for June come out on Thursday.

Underwhelming wage growth has been a characteristic of the economy since the financial crisis of 2008. But if inflation continues to erode wage gains, consumers can afford less, dragging the growth of the overall economy. The Trump administration might then find it harder to promote its economic achievements. At the end of 2016, the last full month of the Obama administration, wages grew at an annual rate of 0.6 percent, adjusted for inflation. In May, inflation-adjusted earnings fell 0.05 percent.