Analysis

Real Average Hourly Earnings Rise 0.2 Percent in January 2013


 

Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—February 21, 2013.

All employees

Real average hourly earnings for all employees rose 0.2 percent from December to January, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The increase in real average hourly earnings was due to a 0.2 percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with an unchanged Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Real average weekly earnings rose 0.1 percent over the month due to the increase in real average hourly earnings combined with an unchanged average workweek. Since a recent low in October 2012, real average weekly earnings has increased 1.3 percent.

Real average hourly earnings rose 0.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from January 2012 to January 2013. The increase in real average hourly earnings, combined with a 0.3 percent decrease in the average workweek, resulted in a 0.3 percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this period.

Production and nonsupervisory employees

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees rose 0.3 percent from December to January, seasonally adjusted. The increase was due to a 0.3 percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with an unchanged Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Real average weekly earnings was unchanged over the month. Since reaching a recent low in October 2012, real average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees has increased 1.2 percent.

Real average hourly earnings rose 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, from January 2012 to January 2013. The increase in real average hourly earnings, combined with a 0.6 percent decrease in average weekly hours, resulted in a 0.2 percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period.

Real Earnings for February 2013 is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 15, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

Revisions to Real Earnings Data

The seasonally adjusted constant dollar series presented in this release have been revised to reflect new seasonal adjustment factors calculated for the CPI-U and CPI-W. This revision affects real earnings for both all employees and production and nonsupervisory employees from January 2008 through December 2012.

The estimates of average weekly hours and average hourly and weekly earnings were revised with the release of January data on February 1, 2013 to reflect new employment benchmarks, and the updating of seasonal adjustment factors. At that time, unadjusted data were revised from April 2011 forward. In addition, seasonally adjusted hours and earnings series were revised from January 2008 forward in accordance with the usual practice of revising 5 years of data.

Source: bls.gov

 


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