April 24, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Real earnings, March 2007

Real average weekly earnings fell by 0.1 percent from February 2007 to March 2007 after seasonal adjustment.

Composition of change in real average weekly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls, March 2007
[Chart data—TXT]

A 0.3-percent rise in both average weekly hours and average hourly earnings was more than offset by a 0.8-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Average weekly earnings rose by 4.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, from March 2006 to March 2007. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 1.6 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 March 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 07-0559.