April 22, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings in March

Real average weekly earnings increased by 0.2 percent from February to March after seasonal adjustment.

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

A 0.1-percent increase in average hourly earnings and a 0.6-percent rise in average weekly hours was partly offset by a 0.5-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Average weekly earnings rose by 3.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from March 2002 to March 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 March 2003" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 03-176.