May 20, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings in April

Real average weekly earnings decreased by 0.3 percent from March to April after seasonal adjustment.

Composition of change in real average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, April 2003
[Chart data—TXT]

A 0.1-percent increase in average hourly earnings and a 0.5-percent decrease in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) were more than offset by a 0.9-percent decline in average weekly hours.

Average weekly earnings rose by 2.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, from April 2002 to April 2003. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.2 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 April 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-243.

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