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

Real earnings in August 2006

Real average weekly earnings fell by 0.5 percent from July 2006 to August 2006 after seasonal adjustment.

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

A 0.3-percent decline in average weekly hours and a 0.4-percent increase in the Consumer Prices Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) were partially offset by a 0.1-percent rise in average hourly earnings.

Average weekly earnings rose by 4.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, from August 2005 to August 2006. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 0.3 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 August 2006" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-1588.