December 18, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real average weekly earnings higher in November

Real average weekly earnings increased by 0.6 percent from October to November after seasonal adjustment.

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

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

Average weekly earnings rose by 2.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from November 2002 to November 2003. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.8 percent over the year.

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 November 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-887.

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