The raises for many rank-and-file workers also failed to keep up with inflation, which reached 7% at the end of last year.ĬEO pay took off as stock prices and profits rebounded sharply as the economy roared out of its brief 2020 recession. The gain towers over the 4.4% increase in wages and benefits netted by private-sector workers through 2021, which was the fastest on record going back to 2001. The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies soared 17.1% last year, to a median $14.5 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. NEW YORK (AP) - Even when regular workers win their biggest raises in decades, they look minuscule compared with what CEOs are getting.