May 19, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Real earnings in April 2011
Real average hourly earnings for all employees declined 0.3 percent from March to April, seasonally adjusted. This decrease stemmed from a 0.1-percent increase in average hourly earnings, which was more than offset by a 0.4-percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
[Chart data]
Real average weekly earnings declined 0.3 percent over the month, as a result of the decrease in real average hourly earnings combined with the average workweek remaining unchanged. Since reaching a recent peak in October 2010, real average weekly earnings have fallen by 1.7 percent.
Over the year (April 2010 to April 2011), real average hourly earnings fell by 1.2 percent, seasonally adjusted. A 0.6-percent increase in average weekly hours combined with the decrease in real average hourly earnings resulted in a 0.6-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings during this period.
These earnings data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. Earnings data for March and April are preliminary and subject to revision. To learn more, see "Real Earnings – April 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-0682.
Related TED articles
Earnings and wages
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
.
Read more »
