April 19, 2010 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Real earnings in March 2010
Real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.2 percent from February to March, seasonally adjusted, while real average weekly earnings rose 0.1 percent over the same period.
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The over-the-month decrease in real average hourly earnings stems from a 0.1-percent decrease in average hourly earnings and a 0.1-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
The increase in real average weekly earnings over the month results from a 0.3-percent increase in the average work week offsetting the decrease in real average hourly earnings. Over the past 9 months, real average weekly earnings have changed little.
From March 2009 to March 2010, real average hourly earnings fell 0.6 percent, seasonally adjusted. The decrease in real average hourly earnings combined with no change in average weekly hours resulted in a 0.6-percent decline in real average weekly earnings during this period.
These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. Earnings data are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Real Earnings—March 2010" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-10-0467.
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