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

Real earnings in May

Real average weekly earnings increased by 0.5 percent from April to May after seasonal adjustment.

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

This increase was due to a 0.3-percent rise in average hourly earnings and a 0.1-percent decrease in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Average weekly hours were unchanged.

Average weekly earnings rose by 2.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from May 2002 to May 2003. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.6 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 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-312.

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