Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-12-0062

8:30 a.m. (EST), Thursday, January 19, 2012

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

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

REAL EARNINGS – DECEMBER 2011 

All employees 

Real average hourly earnings for all employees rose 0.2 percent from November to December, 

seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This change stems from a 0.2 

percent increase in average hourly earnings, while the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 

(CPI-U) remained unchanged. 

Real average weekly earnings rose 0.5 percent over the month, as a result of the increase in real average 

hourly earnings and a 0.3 percent rise in the average workweek. Since reaching a peak in October 2010, 

real average weekly earnings have fallen 1.1 percent. 

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

adjusted, December 2010 – December 2011 

Real average hourly earnings fell 0.9 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December 2010 to December 

2011. A 0.6 percent increase in the average workweek, combined with the decline in real average hourly 

earnings, resulted in a 0.3 percent decrease in real average weekly earnings during the same period. 

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0.2 0.2

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Dec '10 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec '11
 

Production and nonsupervisory employees 

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees remained the same from 

November to December, seasonally adjusted. This result stemmed from both average hourly earnings 

and the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) remaining 

unchanged. 

Real average weekly earnings rose 0.3 percent over the month, as a result of a 0.3 percent increase in the 

average workweek and unchanged real average hourly earnings. Since reaching a peak in October 2010, 

real average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers have fallen 1.6 percent. 

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

nonsupervisory employees, seasonally adjusted, December 2010 – December 2011 

Real average hourly earnings fell 1.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from December 2010 to December 

2011. The decrease in real average hourly earnings combined with a 0.6 percent increase in average 

weekly hours resulted in a 1.0 percent decline in real average weekly earnings during this period. 

Real Earnings for January 2012 is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 17, 2012 at 8:30 

a.m. (EST). 

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Dec '10 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec '11
Table A-1. Current and real (constant 1982-1984 dollars) earnings for all employees on private nonfarm

payrolls, seasonally adjusted

Dec.

2010

Oct.

2011

Nov.

2011p

Dec.

2011p

Real average hourly earnings1.......................................................... $ 10.34 $ 10.23 $ 10.23 $ 10.25

Real average weekly earnings1

......................................................... $353.67 $351.94 $350.99 $352.58

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers...................................... 220.186 226.763 226.720 226.747

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. $ 22.77 $ 23.20 $ 23.20 $ 23.24

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 34.2 34.4 34.3 34.4

Average weekly earnings................................................................. $778.73 $798.08 $795.76 $799.46

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1

.......................................................... -0.4 0.4 0.0 0.2

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... -0.4 0.7 -0.3 0.5

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers...................................... 0.4 -0.1 0.0 0.0

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.2

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 0.0 0.3 -0.3 0.3

Average weekly earnings................................................................. 0.0 0.6 -0.3 0.5

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1

.......................................................... 0.3 -1.6 -1.4 -0.9

Real average weekly earnings1

......................................................... 1.2 -1.3 -1.1 -0.3

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers...................................... 1.4 3.6 3.4 3.0

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. 1.7 1.9 1.9 2.1

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.6

Average weekly earnings................................................................. 2.6 2.2 2.2 2.7

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

Dec.

2010

Oct.

2011

Nov.

2011p

Dec.

2011p

Real average hourly earnings2.......................................................... $ 8.89 $ 8.74 $ 8.75 $ 8.75

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... $297.74 $294.43 $293.93 $294.83

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers............ 216.367 223.535 223.363 223.352

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. $ 19.23 $ 19.53 $ 19.54 $ 19.54

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 33.5 33.7 33.6 33.7

Average weekly earnings................................................................. $644.21 $658.16 $656.54 $658.50

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2

.......................................................... -0.6 0.3 0.1 0.0

Real average weekly earnings2

......................................................... -0.6 0.6 -0.2 0.3

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers............ 0.5 -0.1 -0.1 0.0

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. -0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 0.0 0.3 -0.3 0.3

Average weekly earnings................................................................. -0.1 0.5 -0.2 0.3

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2

.......................................................... 0.3 -2.2 -2.1 -1.6

Real average weekly earnings2

......................................................... 1.3 -1.7 -1.8 -1.0

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers............ 1.7 4.0 3.8 3.2

Average hourly earnings.................................................................. 2.0 1.6 1.6 1.6

Average weekly hours..................................................................... 0.9 0.6 0.3 0.6

Average weekly earnings................................................................. 2.9 2.2 1.9 2.2

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
Explanatory 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 constant-dollar 

earnings series presented in this release come from the 

Consumer Price Indexes Programs. The Consumer 

Price Index for All Urban Employees (CPI-U) is used 

to deflate the all employees series, while the Consumer 

Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 

Workers (CPI-W) is used to deflate the production 

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, over-the-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 on the Internet under ‘Technical 

Notes’ (http://www.bls.gov/ces/). 

 Earnings series from the monthly 

establishment series 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 major industry sector and 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 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 

available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. 

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Phone Number: 1-800-877-8339.