Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-21-1019

8:30 a.m. (ET), Thursday, June 10, 2021

Technical Information: (202) 691-6555 • cesinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ces

Media Contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov

REAL EARNINGS – MAY 2021

All employees

Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.2 percent from April to May, seasonally 

adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This result stems from an increase of 0.5

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 decreased 0.1 percent over the month due to the change in real average 

hourly earnings combined with no change in the average workweek. 

Chart 1: Over-the-month percent change in real average hourly earnings for all employees, seasonally 

adjusted, May 2020–May 2021

 Percent Change

Real average hourly earnings decreased 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, from May 2020 to May 2021. 

The change in real average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.6 percent in the average 

workweek resulted in a 2.2-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period.

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May '20 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May '21
Production and nonsupervisory employees

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees decreased 0.2 percent from

April to May, seasonally adjusted. This result stems from a 0.5-percent increase in average hourly 

earnings combined with an increase of 0.7 percent in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners 

and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.4 percent over the month due to the change in real average

hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.3 percent in average weekly hours.

Chart 2: Over-the-month percent change in real average hourly earnings for production and 

nonsupervisory employees, seasonally adjusted, May 2020–May 2021

 Percent Change

From May 2020 to May 2021, real average hourly earnings decreased 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted. 

The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.6-percent increase in the average 

workweek resulted in a 2.5-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period. 

_____________

Real Earnings for June 2021 is scheduled to be released on July 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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Table A-1. Current and real (constant 1982-1984 dollars) earnings for all employees on private nonfarm

payrolls, seasonally adjusted

May

2020

Mar.

2021

Apr.

2021p

May

2021p

Real average hourly earnings1.......................................................... $11.62 $11.32 $11.31 $11.29

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... $403.21 $395.01 $394.74 $394.16

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... 255.942 264.793 266.832 268.551

Average hourly earnings................................................................. $29.74 $29.97 $30.18 $30.33

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 34.7 34.9 34.9 34.9

Average weekly earnings................................................................ $1,031.98 $1,045.95 $1,053.28 $1,058.52

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1

.......................................................... -1.0 -0.7 -0.1 -0.2

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... 0.4 0.1 -0.1 -0.1

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... -0.1 0.6 0.8 0.6

Average hourly earnings................................................................. -1.1 -0.1 0.7 0.5

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 1.5 0.9 0.0 0.0

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 0.3 0.8 0.7 0.5

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1.......................................................... 6.4 1.6 -3.7 -2.8

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... 7.4 4.0 -1.7 -2.2

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... 0.2 2.6 4.2 4.9

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 6.7 4.3 0.4 2.0

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 0.9 2.3 2.0 0.6

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 7.6 6.7 2.4 2.6

1 The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) is used to deflate the earnings series for all employees.

p Preliminary
Table A-2. Current and real (constant 1982-1984 dollars) earnings for production and nonsupervisory

employees on private nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted1

May

2020

Mar.

2021

Apr.

2021p

May

2021p

Real average hourly earnings2.......................................................... $10.04 $9.76 $9.76 $9.74

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... $342.53 $335.76 $335.60 $334.09

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... 248.983 258.904 260.970 262.829

Average hourly earnings................................................................. $25.01 $25.27 $25.46 $25.60

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 34.1 34.4 34.4 34.3

Average weekly earnings................................................................ $852.84 $869.29 $875.82 $878.08

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2

.......................................................... -0.5 -0.5 0.0 -0.2

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... 1.3 0.7 0.0 -0.4

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... -0.1 0.7 0.8 0.7

Average hourly earnings................................................................. -0.6 0.2 0.8 0.5

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 1.8 1.2 0.0 -0.3

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 1.2 1.4 0.8 0.3

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2.......................................................... 6.7 1.6 -3.3 -3.0

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... 8.4 4.6 -0.7 -2.5

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... 0.0 3.0 4.7 5.6

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 6.8 4.6 1.2 2.4

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 1.5 3.0 2.7 0.6

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 8.4 7.8 3.9 3.0

1 Data relate to production employees in mining and logging and manufacturing, construction employees in construction, and nonsupervisory

employees in the service-providing industries. These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private nonfarm

payrolls.

2 The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is used to deflate the earnings series for production and

nonsupervisory employees.

p Preliminary
Technical Note 

The earnings series presented in this release are 

derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 

Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey,

a monthly establishment survey of employment, 

payroll, and hours. The deflators used for constantdollar earnings series presented in this release come 

from the Consumer Price Indexes Program. The 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

(CPI-U) is used to deflate earnings for the all 

employees series, while the Consumer Price Index 

for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers 

(CPI-W) is used to deflate earnings for the 

production and nonsupervisory employees series. 

Seasonally adjusted data are used for 

estimates of percent change from the same month 

a year ago for current and constant average hourly 

and weekly earnings. Special techniques are applied to

the CES hours and earnings data in the 

seasonal adjustment process to mitigate the effect 

of certain calendar-related fluctuations. Thus, overthe-year changes of these hours and earnings are best 

measured using seasonally adjusted series. A 

discussion of the calendar-related fluctuations in the 

hours and earnings data and the special techniques 

to remove them is available in the February 2004 

issue of Employment and Earnings or at

www.bls.gov/ces/cesfltxt.htm. 

Earnings series from the monthly

establishment survey are estimated arithmetic 

averages (means) of the hourly and weekly earnings 

of all jobs in the private nonfarm sector of the 

economy, as well as of all production and 

nonsupervisory jobs in the private nonfarm sector 

of the economy. Average hourly earnings estimates 

are derived by dividing the estimated industry 

payroll by the corresponding paid hours. Average 

weekly hours estimates are similarly derived by 

dividing estimated aggregate hours by the 

corresponding number of jobs. Average weekly 

earnings estimates are derived by multiplying 

the average hourly earnings and the average weekly 

hours estimates. This is equivalent to dividing the 

estimated payroll by the corresponding number of 

jobs. The weekly and hourly earnings estimates for 

aggregate industries, such as the total private sector 

averages printed in this release, are derived by 

summing the corresponding payroll, hours, and 

employment estimates of the component 

industries. As a result, each industry receives a 

"weight" in the published averages that corresponds to 

its current level of activity (employment or 

total hours). This further implies that fluctuations 

and varying trends in employment in high-wage 

versus low-wage industries as well as wage rate 

changes influence the earnings averages. 

There are several characteristics of the series 

presented in this release that limit their suitability 

for some types of economic analyses. (1) The 

denominator for the all employee weekly earnings 

series is the number of private nonfarm jobs. 

Similarly, the denominator of the production 

and nonsupervisory employee weekly earnings 

series is the number of private nonfarm 

production and nonsupervisory employee jobs. This 

number includes full-time and part-time jobs as well as 

the jobs held by multiple jobholders in the 

private nonfarm sector. These factors tend to result in

weekly earnings averages significantly lower 

than the corresponding numbers for full-time jobs. 

(2) Annual earnings averages can differ 

significantly from the result obtained by 

multiplying average weekly earnings times 52 

weeks. The difference may be due to factors such as 

turnovers and layoffs. (3) The series are the average 

earnings of all employees or all production and 

nonsupervisory jobs, not the earnings average of 

"typical" jobs or jobs held by "typical" workers. 

Specifically, there are no adjustments for 

occupational, age, or schooling variations or for 

household type or location. Many studies have 

established the significance of these factors and that 

their impact varies over time. 

Seasonally adjusted data are preferred by some 

users for analyzing general earnings trends in the 

economy since they eliminate the effect of 

changes that normally occur at the same time and in

about the same magnitude each year and, therefore, 

reveal the underlying trends and cyclical movements. 

Changes in average earnings may be due to seasonal 

changes in the proportion of workers in high-wage 

and low-wage industries or occupations or to seasonal 

changes in the amount of overtime work, and so on.

For more information, see Thomas Gavett, 

"Measures of Change in Real Wages and Earnings," 

Monthly Labor Review, February 1972. 

Information in this release will be made

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