June 19, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings in May

Real average weekly earnings fell by 0.2 percent from April 2007 to May 2007 after seasonal adjustment.

Composition of change in real average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, May 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

A 0.3-percent increase in both average weekly hours and average hourly earnings was more than offset by a 0.8-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Average weekly earnings rose by 4.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from May 2006 to May 2007. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 1.4 percent.

These earnings data are from the Current Employment Statistics Program. These data are for production and nonsupervisory workers in private nonfarm establishments. Earnings data are preliminary and subject to revision. Find out more in "Real Earnings in May 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0846.