December 19, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings in November

Real average weekly earnings rose by 0.2 percent from October 2006 to November 2006 after seasonal adjustment.

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

This increase stemmed from a 0.2-percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with 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 4.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from November 2005 to November 2006. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 2.6 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 November 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-2072.