Amara Mokwe

One of the main ways to get a higher wage is to get a new job.

Hurst says salaried workers have a tougher time doing that.

So if you're, say, an economics professor.

Both hourly and salaried workers saw their wages increase slower than the rate of inflation, which means their real wages, or their ability to afford stuff, actually went down.

I'm Kaylee Wells for Marketplace.

Mitsuki Japanese Market sits on a busy commercial strip in Brooklyn, with a shiny Hello Kitty statue greeting customers at the door.

It's a small shop, just a few aisles wide, stocked with colorful, crinkly packages of seaweed-flavored chips and matcha Kit Kats.

Austin Johnson hunches over a high top near the front of the store.

Sure.

Just so you know, I have to leave in five minutes.

I'm stopping my face with an onigiri before work.

Onigiri, a rice ball filled with eel and a savory soy sauce for $3.99.

It's a staple.

It's very cheap and it's filling and I have a long shift ahead of me so it's good energy.

Johnson works at a photo studio nearby.

He often stops on his way in for a snack and on his way out for an ice cream treat.

I love convenience stores.

Me and my partner are kind of like aficionados when it comes to trying like weird snacks and stuff or like new Reese's flavor or new soda.

That's, you know, strange or something.

So yeah, this spot's cool.