Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-23-0485

8:30 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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

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

REAL EARNINGS – FEBRUARY 2023

All employees

Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.1 percent from January to February, 

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

increase of 0.2 percent in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.4 percent in the 

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

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

hourly earnings combined with a 0.3-percent decrease in the average workweek. 

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

adjusted, February 2022–February 2023

 Percent Change

Real average hourly earnings decreased 1.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, from February 2022 to 

February 2023. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6 percent in 

the average workweek resulted in a 1.9-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this 

period.

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0.0

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0.5

0.1

-0.1 -0.1

0.2 0.3

-0.3 -0.1

-2.0

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

Feb '22 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb '23
Production and nonsupervisory employees

Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees increased 0.1 percent from

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

earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 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 0.6-percent decrease in the average workweek.

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

nonsupervisory employees, seasonally adjusted, February 2022–February 2023

 Percent Change

From February 2022 to February 2023, real average hourly earnings decreased 0.3 percent, seasonally 

adjusted. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.9 percent in the 

average workweek resulted in a 1.2-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period. 

_____________

Real Earnings for March 2023 is scheduled to be released on April 12, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

-0.4 -0.5

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0.3 0.4

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Feb '22 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb '23
Table A-1. Current and real (constant 1982-1984 dollars) earnings for all employees on private nonfarm

payrolls, seasonally adjusted

Feb.

2022

Dec.

2022

Jan.

2023p

Feb.

2023p

Real average hourly earnings1.......................................................... $11.11 $11.01 $10.98 $10.97

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... $385.64 $378.76 $380.04 $378.46

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... 284.610 298.990 300.536 301.648

Average hourly earnings................................................................. $31.63 $32.92 $33.01 $33.09

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 34.7 34.4 34.6 34.5

Average weekly earnings................................................................ $1,097.56 $1,132.45 $1,142.15 $1,141.61

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1

.......................................................... -0.7 0.3 -0.3 -0.1

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... -0.4 -0.1 0.3 -0.4

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... 0.7 0.1 0.5 0.4

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 0.0 0.4 0.3 0.2

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 0.3 -0.3 0.6 -0.3

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 0.3 0.1 0.9 0.0

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings1.......................................................... -2.5 -1.6 -1.9 -1.3

Real average weekly earnings1......................................................... -2.2 -2.7 -1.9 -1.9

Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers..................................... 8.0 6.4 6.3 6.0

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 5.3 4.8 4.4 4.6

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 0.3 -1.1 0.0 -0.6

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 5.6 3.6 4.4 4.0

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

Feb.

2022

Dec.

2022

Jan.

2023p

Feb.

2023p

Real average hourly earnings2.......................................................... $9.63 $9.61 $9.59 $9.60

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... $329.42 $324.86 $326.89 $325.44

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... 280.104 293.510 295.116 296.038

Average hourly earnings................................................................. $26.98 $28.21 $28.29 $28.42

Average weekly hours.................................................................... 34.2 33.8 34.1 33.9

Average weekly earnings................................................................ $922.72 $953.50 $964.69 $963.44

OVER-THE-MONTH PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2

.......................................................... -0.4 0.4 -0.2 0.1

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... 0.2 0.1 0.6 -0.4

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... 0.8 0.0 0.5 0.3

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5

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

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 1.0 0.1 1.2 -0.1

OVER-THE-YEAR PERCENT CHANGE

Real average hourly earnings2.......................................................... -1.8 -0.8 -0.8 -0.3

Real average weekly earnings2......................................................... -1.2 -1.7 -0.6 -1.2

Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers........... 8.7 6.2 6.2 5.7

Average hourly earnings................................................................. 6.8 5.4 5.2 5.3

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

Average weekly earnings................................................................ 7.4 4.5 5.6 4.4

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 constant-dollar

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 hourlyand weekly 

earnings. Special techniques are applied to the CES

hours and earnings data in the seasonal adjustment

process to mitigate the effect of certain calendarrelated 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 techniquesto remove

them is available at https://

www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cestn.htm#section6e.

 Earnings series from the monthly establishment

survey are estimated arithmeticaverages (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 componentindustries. 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 asthe 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-wageand low-wage 

industries or occupations or to seasonal changes in the

amount of overtime work, and so on.

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