Change in real average weekly earnings, July 2009

August 19, 2009

Real average weekly earnings rose by 0.4 percent from June to July after seasonal adjustment.

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This increase stemmed from a 0.3-percent increase in average weekly hours and a 0.2-percent increase in average hourly earnings. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was unchanged.

Average weekly earnings rose by 1.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2008 to July 2009. After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings increased by 3.5 percent. Before adjustment for seasonal change and inflation, average weekly earnings were $612.87 in July 2009, compared with $607.27 a year earlier.

These earnings data are from the Current Employment Statistics program. Real average weekly earnings are calculated by adjusting earnings in current dollars for changes in the CPI-W. 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 June 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-0938.