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Median weekly earnings of the nation’s 110.9 million full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and over were $1,307 in the third quarter of 2026. This was 2.0 percent higher than a year earlier, compared with a gain of 3.5 percent in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) over the same period.

In September 2026, unemployment rates in North Dakota and South Dakota were among the lowest, at 2.2 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. Nebraska, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Vermont each also had unemployment rates below 3.0 percent.

In December 2025, national employment increased by 0.3 percent over the year (+454,268 jobs), while employment in the District of Columbia decreased by 4.5 percent (−34,452 jobs).

Import air passenger fares increased 11.8 percent for the year ended September 2026, due in part to a 30.9-percent increase in Latin American/Caribbean fares and a 17.6-percent increase in European fares. Asian import fares declined 1.2 percent over the year.