October 23, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings, September 2006

Real average weekly earnings rose by 1.0 percent from August to September after seasonal adjustment.

Composition of change in real average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, September 2006
[Chart data—TXT]

This increase stemmed from a 0.2-percent rise in average hourly earnings and a 0.7-percent decline in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Average weekly hours were unchanged.

Average weekly earnings rose by 4.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from September 2005 to September 2006. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 2.2 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 September 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1815.