Real Earnings - August 2023
Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 am (ET) September 13, 2023
Top Takeaways
1-month percent change
-0.5%
Real average hourly earnings of all employees
12-month percent change
+0.5%
Real average hourly earnings of all employees
Headline
Real average hourly earnings for all employees decrease 0.5% in August
All employees, private sector, percent changes
Real average hourly earnings of all employees, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average hourly earnings of all employees |
Aug 2022 |
0.1% |
Sept 2022 |
-0.1% |
Oct 2022 |
-0.1% |
Nov 2022 |
0.2% |
Dec 2022 |
0.3% |
Jan 2023 |
-0.2% |
Feb 2023 |
-0.1% |
Mar 2023 |
0.2% |
Apr 2023 |
0.1% |
May 2023 |
0.2% |
June 2023 |
0.3% |
July 2023 |
0.3% |
Aug 2023 |
-0.5% |
Hourly, 1 month
- Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.5 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted.
- This result stems from an increase of 0.2 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.6 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
Real average weekly earnings of all employees, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average weekly earnings of all employees |
Aug 2022 |
-0.2% |
Sept 2022 |
0.2% |
Oct 2022 |
-0.1% |
Nov 2022 |
-0.1% |
Dec 2022 |
-0.1% |
Jan 2023 |
0.4% |
Feb 2023 |
-0.4% |
Mar 2023 |
-0.1% |
Apr 2023 |
0.1% |
May 2023 |
-0.1% |
June 2023 |
0.6% |
July 2023 |
0.0% |
Aug 2023 |
-0.1% |
Weekly, 1 month
- Real average weekly earnings for all employees decreased 0.1 percent in August.
- This change is due to a decrease of 0.5 percent in real average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in the average workweek.
Real average hourly earnings of all employees, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average hourly earnings of all employees |
Aug 2022 |
-2.7% |
Sept 2022 |
-2.9% |
Oct 2022 |
-2.7% |
Nov 2022 |
-2.1% |
Dec 2022 |
-1.6% |
Jan 2023 |
-1.8% |
Feb 2023 |
-1.2% |
Mar 2023 |
-0.6% |
Apr 2023 |
-0.5% |
May 2023 |
0.2% |
June 2023 |
1.3% |
July 2023 |
1.1% |
Aug 2023 |
0.5% |
Hourly, 12 month
- Real average hourly earnings for all employees increased 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, from August 2022 to August 2023.
Real average weekly earnings of all employees, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average weekly earnings of all employees |
Aug 2022 |
-3.2% |
Sept 2022 |
-3.5% |
Oct 2022 |
-3.0% |
Nov 2022 |
-2.8% |
Dec 2022 |
-2.7% |
Jan 2023 |
-1.8% |
Feb 2023 |
-1.8% |
Mar 2023 |
-1.5% |
Apr 2023 |
-1.1% |
May 2023 |
-0.7% |
June 2023 |
0.7% |
July 2023 |
0.2% |
Aug 2023 |
0.3% |
Weekly, 12 month
- Real average weekly earnings for all employees increased 0.3 percent from August 2022 to August 2023.
- This change is due to an increase of 0.5 percent in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.3 percent in the average workweek.
Real average hourly earnings of all employees by industry, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2023
| Industry |
Percent change |
Mining and logging |
0.8% |
Construction |
1.4% |
Manufacturing |
1.2% |
Wholesale trade |
1.4% |
Retail trade |
0.4% |
Transportation and warehousing |
1.5% |
Utilities |
1.7% |
Information |
-1.8% |
Financial activities |
1.8% |
Professional and business services |
0.5% |
Private education and health services |
-0.6% |
Leisure and hospitality |
1.2% |
Other services |
-0.1% |
Hourly by industry, 12 month
- The largest over-the-year percent increase in real average hourly earnings for all employees was in financial activities (+1.8 percent).
- The largest over-the-year percent decrease in real average hourly earnings was in information (-1.8 percent).
Production and nonsupervisory employees, private sector, percent changes
Real average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees |
Aug 2022 |
0.3% |
Sept 2022 |
0.0% |
Oct 2022 |
-0.1% |
Nov 2022 |
0.3% |
Dec 2022 |
0.4% |
Jan 2023 |
-0.2% |
Feb 2023 |
0.1% |
Mar 2023 |
0.4% |
Apr 2023 |
-0.2% |
May 2023 |
0.4% |
June 2023 |
0.1% |
July 2023 |
0.3% |
Aug 2023 |
-0.6% |
Hourly, 1 month
- Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees decreased 0.6 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted.
- This result stems from an increase of 0.2 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.8 percent in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
Real average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees |
Aug 2022 |
0.3% |
Sept 2022 |
0.0% |
Oct 2022 |
-0.1% |
Nov 2022 |
0.0% |
Dec 2022 |
0.1% |
Jan 2023 |
0.6% |
Feb 2023 |
-0.5% |
Mar 2023 |
0.4% |
Apr 2023 |
-0.4% |
May 2023 |
0.3% |
June 2023 |
0.2% |
July 2023 |
0.0% |
Aug 2023 |
-0.3% |
Weekly, 1 month
- Real average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees decreased 0.3 percent in August.
- This is due to a decrease of 0.6 percent in real average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in the average workweek.
Real average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees |
Aug 2022 |
-2.2% |
Sept 2022 |
-2.4% |
Oct 2022 |
-2.1% |
Nov 2022 |
-1.3% |
Dec 2022 |
-0.8% |
Jan 2023 |
-0.8% |
Feb 2023 |
-0.3% |
Mar 2023 |
0.6% |
Apr 2023 |
0.2% |
May 2023 |
1.2% |
June 2023 |
2.1% |
July 2023 |
1.9% |
Aug 2023 |
0.9% |
Hourly, 12 month
- Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees increased 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted, from August 2022 to August 2023.
Real average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
| Month |
Real average weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees |
Aug 2022 |
-2.8% |
Sept 2022 |
-3.2% |
Oct 2022 |
-2.6% |
Nov 2022 |
-2.2% |
Dec 2022 |
-1.7% |
Jan 2023 |
-0.6% |
Feb 2023 |
-1.2% |
Mar 2023 |
0.0% |
Apr 2023 |
-0.6% |
May 2023 |
0.2% |
June 2023 |
1.2% |
July 2023 |
0.9% |
Aug 2023 |
0.4% |
Weekly, 12 month
- Real average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees increased 0.4 percent from August 2022 to August 2023.
- This change is due to an increase of 0.9 percent in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6 percent in the average workweek.
Real average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees by industry, 12-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2023
| Industry |
Percent change |
Mining and logging |
-1.3% |
Construction |
2.1% |
Manufacturing |
2.2% |
Wholesale trade |
1.2% |
Retail trade |
0.7% |
Transportation and warehousing |
3.3% |
Utilities |
2.1% |
Information |
-0.1% |
Financial activities |
1.1% |
Professional and business services |
1.7% |
Private education and health services |
-0.6% |
Leisure and hospitality |
1.3% |
Other services |
-0.3% |
Hourly by industry, 12 month
- The largest over-the-year percent increase in real average hourly for production and nonsupervisory employees earnings was in transportation and warehousing (+3.3 percent).
- The largest over-the-year percent decrease in real average hourly earnings was in mining and logging (-1.3 percent).
Next Release
- October 12, 2023 at 8:30 am (ET)
What are real earnings?
Real earnings are average hourly and weekly earnings adjusted for inflation and expressed in constant 1982-84 dollars. Real earnings indicate the purchasing power of earnings after adjustment for changes over time in the prices of consumer goods and services. Average hourly and average weekly earnings are produced from the Current Employment Statistics-National survey for all private-sector, wage and salary employees (AE) and for private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees (PE). Real earnings for AE are deflated by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), while real earnings for PE are deflated by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
Changing mixes of full-time and part-time workers, high- and low-paid workers, and so on, affect long-term trends of real earnings data. Real earnings data cannot be used to measure changes in living standards, which are affected by other factors such as total family income, the extension and incidence of various social services and benefits, and the duration and extent of employment and unemployment.
United States Department of Labor
