May 22, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings in April 2006

Real average weekly earnings rose by 0.2 percent from March to April after seasonal adjustment.

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

A 0.5-percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent increase in average weekly hours was partially offset by a 0.6-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Average weekly earnings rose by 4.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, from April 2005 to April 2006. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.4 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 April 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-855.