August 2012 Real Earnings — 2012-09-14

Real average hourly earnings for all employees fell 0.7 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This decline resulted from unchanged average hourly earnings combined with a 0.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Real average weekly earnings fell 0.6 percent over the month due to the decline in real average hourly earnings combined with an unchanged average workweek. Since reaching a peak in October 2010, real average weekly earnings have fallen 1.3 percent. Real average hourly earnings were unchanged, seasonally adjusted, from August 2011 to August 2012. The unchanged real average hourly earnings, combined with a 0.3 percent increase in the average workweek, resulted in a 0.3 percent increase in real average weekly earnings over this period. Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees fell 0.8 percent from July to August, seasonally adjusted.