March 28, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real weekly earnings in February 2005

Real average weekly earnings fell by 0.4 percent from January 2005 to February 2005 after seasonal adjustment.

Composition of change in real average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, February 2005
[Chart data—TXT]

The change resulted from a 0.4-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Average hourly earnings and average weekly hours were unchanged.

Average weekly earnings rose by 2.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, from February 2004 to February 2005. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings decreased by 0.8 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 February 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-485.