TEXT
Table A.  Composition of change in real earnings (production or
Table 1.  Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
_________________________________________________________________________
Table 2. Earnings of prodution or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls1/, seasonally adjusted
Table 3.  Revised seasonally adjusted average hourly and weekly earnings of


 
 Technical information: (202) 606-6555     USDL 95-125
 Media contact:               606-5902
                                           WIRE EMBARGO UNTIL
                                           10:00 A.M. (EDT) WEDNESDAY,
                                           APRIL 12, 1995
 
 
                      REAL EARNINGS IN MARCH 1995
 
 
     Real average weekly earnings declined by 0.1 percent between February
 and March after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary data
 released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
 of Labor.  Average hourly earnings increased by 0.3 percent, and
 the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
 Workers (CPI-W) rose by 0.3 percent.  Average weekly hours were
 unchanged in March.
     Data on average weekly earnings are collected from the payroll
 reports of private nonfarm establishments.  Earnings of both full-time
 and part-time workers holding production or nonsupervisory jobs are
 included.  Real average weekly earnings are calculated by adjusting
 earnings in current dollars for changes in the CPI-W.
     Average weekly earnings rose by 2.2 percent between March
 of 1994 and 1995 as a result of a 2.8 percent increase in average
 hourly earnings being partially offset by a 0.6 percent decline in
 average weekly hours.  After adjustment for a 3.0 percent gain in
 the CPI-W over the same period, real average weekly earnings fell
 by 0.8 percent.  Before adjustment for seasonal change and deflation
 by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings were $388.17 in March 1995,
 compared with $379.78 a year earlier.
                    _____________________________
      Real Earnings for April 1995 will be released on Friday,
 May 12, 1995.
 
Table A.  Composition of change in real earnings (production or
nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls)
________________________________________________________________
             |         |         |         |   The   |  Real
      Year   |Average  | Average |Average  |Consumer |average
      and    | hourly  |  weekly | weekly  |  Price  | weekly
     month   |earnings |  hours  |earnings |Index 1/ |earnings
                                                  _
             |         |         |         |         |
________________________________________________________________
    Percent change from preceding month, seasonally adjusted
________________________________________________________________
1994:        |         |         |         |         |
   Mar.      |  -0.1   |   0.9   |   0.8   |   0.2   |   0.6
   Apr.      |    .3   |    .3   |    .6   |    .2   |    .4
   May       |    .4   |    .3   |    .6   |    .1   |    .5
   June      |   -.1   |   -.6   |   -.7   |    .3   |  -1.0
   July      |    .3   |    .0   |    .3   |    .4   |   -.1
   Aug.      |    .2   |   -.6   |   -.4   |    .3   |   -.7
   Sept.     |    .4   |    .6   |    .9   |    .2   |    .7
   Oct.      |    .7   |    .9   |   1.6   |    .1   |   1.5
   Nov.      |   -.2   |   -.9   |  -1.0   |    .2   |  -1.2
   Dec.      |    .2   |    .0   |    .2   |    .2   |   (2)
1995:        |         |         |         |         |
   Jan.      |    .5   |    .6   |   1.1   |    .3   |    .8
   Feb. p    |   -.1   |   -.9   |  -1.0   |    .3   |  -1.2
   Mar. p    |    .3   |    .0   |    .3   |    .3   |   -.1
             |         |         |         |         |
________________________________________________________________
           Percent change from same month a year ago
________________________________________________________________
1994:        |         |         |         |         |
   Mar.      |   2.3   |   1.2   |   3.5   |   2.3   |   1.2
   Apr.      |   2.6   |    .9   |   3.5   |   2.2   |   1.3
   May       |   2.5   |    .3   |   2.8   |   2.1   |    .7
   June      |   2.5   |    .6   |   3.1   |   2.4   |    .6
   July      |   2.7   |    .3   |   3.0   |   2.6   |    .3
   Aug.      |   2.4   |   -.6   |   1.8   |   2.9   |  -1.0
   Sept.     |   2.7   |    .6   |   3.3   |   3.0   |    .3
   Oct.      |   2.9   |    .9   |   3.8   |   2.6   |   1.2
   Nov.      |   2.7   |    .0   |   2.7   |   2.7   |   (2)
   Dec.      |   2.7   |    .0   |   2.7   |   2.7   |   (2)
1995:        |         |         |         |         |
   Jan.      |   2.6   |    .3   |   2.9   |   2.9   |   (2)
   Feb. p    |   2.5   |    .6   |   3.1   |   3.0   |    .2
   Mar. p    |   2.8   |   -.6   |   2.2   |   3.0   |   -.8
             |         |         |         |         |
________________________________________________________________
  1/ The deflator for the           for Urban Wage Earners and
  _
constant dollar series present-     Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
ed in this release is derived         2/ Less than 0.05 percent.
                                      _
from the Consumer Price Index         p = preliminary.
Table 1.  Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
      nonfarm payrolls in current and constant dollars1/ by industry
_______________________________________________________________________
                             |                                        |
                             |                 Average                |
                             |             hourly earnings            |
         Industry            |                                        |
                              _________________________________________
                             | Mar.  | Feb.  | Mar.  |Percent change  |
                             | 1994  | 1995p | 1995p |Mar. 1994 -     |
                             |       |       |       |Mar. 1995       |
_______________________________________________________________________
                             |       |       |       |                |
Total private: 2/            |       |       |       |                |
               _
  Current dollars............|$11.04 |$11.34 |$11.35 |       2.8      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  7.41 |  7.41 |  7.39 |       -.3      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Mining:                     |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 14.84 | 15.27 | 15.41 |       3.8      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  9.96 |  9.98 | 10.04 |        .8      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Construction:               |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 14.44 | 14.80 | 14.79 |       2.4      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  9.69 |  9.67 |  9.64 |       -.5      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Manufacturing:              |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 11.99 | 12.25 | 12.28 |       2.4      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  8.05 |  8.01 |  8.00 |       -.6      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Transportation and          |       |       |       |                |
    public utilities:        |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 13.80 | 14.04 | 14.04 |       1.7      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  9.26 |  9.18 |  9.15 |      -1.2      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Wholesale trade:            |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 11.87 | 12.24 | 12.19 |       2.7      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  7.97 |  8.00 |  7.94 |       -.4      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Retail trade:               |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............|  7.45 |  7.64 |  7.63 |       2.4      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  5.00 |  4.99 |  4.97 |       -.6      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Finance, insurance,         |       |       |       |                |
    and real estate:         |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 11.75 | 12.17 | 12.19 |       3.7      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  7.89 |  7.95 |  7.94 |        .6      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
 Services:                   |       |       |       |                |
  Current dollars............| 11.02 | 11.39 | 11.37 |       3.2      |
  Constant (1982) dollars....|  7.40 |  7.44 |  7.41 |        .1      |
                             |       |       |       |                |
                             |       |       |       |                |
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
                             |
                             |                  Average
 
                             |              weekly earnings
         Industry            |
                             ____________________________________________
                             | Mar.   | Feb.   | Mar.   |Percent change
                             | 1994   | 1995p  | 1995p  |Mar. 1994 -
                             |        |        |        |Mar. 1995
_________________________________________________________________________
                             |        |        |        |
Total private: 2/            |        |        |        |
               _
  Current dollars............|$379.78 |$387.83 |$388.17 |       2.2
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 254.89 | 253.48 | 252.88 |       -.8
                             |        |        |        |
 Mining:                     |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 652.96 | 679.52 | 679.58 |       4.1
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 438.23 | 444.13 | 442.72 |       1.0
                             |        |        |        |
 Construction:               |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 550.16 | 544.64 | 563.50 |       2.4
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 369.23 | 355.97 | 367.10 |       -.6
                             |        |        |        |
 Manufacturing:              |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 502.38 | 510.83 | 512.08 |       1.9
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 337.17 | 333.88 | 333.60 |      -1.1
                             |        |        |        |
 Transportation and          |        |        |        |
    public utilities:        |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 545.10 | 551.77 | 553.18 |       1.5
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 365.84 | 360.63 | 360.38 |      -1.5
                             |        |        |        |
 Wholesale trade:            |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 452.25 | 465.12 | 463.22 |       2.4
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 303.52 | 304.00 | 301.77 |       -.6
                             |        |        |        |
 Retail trade:               |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 212.33 | 214.68 | 215.17 |       1.3
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 142.50 | 140.31 | 140.18 |      -1.6
                             |        |        |        |
 Finance, insurance,         |        |        |        |
    and real estate:         |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 418.30 | 434.47 | 433.96 |       3.7
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 280.74 | 283.97 | 282.71 |        .7
                             |        |        |        |
 Services:                   |        |        |        |
  Current dollars............| 355.95 | 367.90 | 367.25 |       3.2
  Constant (1982) dollars....| 238.89 | 240.46 | 239.25 |        .2
                             |        |        |        |
                             |        |        |        |
_________________________________________________________________________
     1/ The deflator for the constant dollar series presented     and public utilities, trade, finance, insurance,
     _
in this release is derived from the Consumer Price Index for      and real estate, and services.  Included in this
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).                  group are approximately four-fifths of all jobs
     2/ Data relate to the earnings of production and related     on private industry payrolls.
     _
workers in mining and manufacturing; construction workers in
construction; and nonsuperisory workers in transportation             p = preliminary.
Table 2. Earnings of prodution or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls1/, seasonally adjusted
                                                                                    _
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                           |                                                                               |
                            |                                     1994                                      |         1995
         Earnings           |                                                                               |
                             _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
                            | Mar.  | Apr.  | May   | June  | July  | Aug.  | Sept. | Oct.  | Nov.  | Dec.  | Jan.  |Feb. p |Mar. p
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Average hourly earnings:    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Current dollars...........| $11.02| $11.05| $11.09| $11.08| $11.11| $11.13| $11.17| $11.25| $11.23| $11.25| $11.31| $11.30| $11.33
  Constant (1982) dollars2/.|   7.40|   7.40|   7.42|   7.39|   7.38|   7.37|   7.38|   7.42|   7.39|   7.39|   7.41|   7.38|   7.38
                         _
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Average weekly earnings:    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Current dollars...........| 381.29| 383.44| 385.93| 383.37| 384.41| 382.87| 386.48| 392.63| 388.56| 389.25| 393.59| 389.85| 390.89
  Constant (1982) dollars2/.| 255.90| 256.83| 258.15| 255.58| 255.25| 253.39| 255.27| 258.99| 255.80| 255.75| 257.75| 254.64| 254.49
                         _
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
                            |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     1/ See footnote 2, table 1.                                     Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
     _
     2/ The deflator for the constant dollar series presented             p = preliminary.
     _
in this release is derived from the Consumer Price Index for
Table 3.  Revised seasonally adjusted average hourly and weekly earnings of
production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls1/ in
constant (1982) dollars
___________________________________________________________________________
               |
               |                  Average hourly earnings
     Year      |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
               |  Jan.   |  Feb.   |  Mar.   |  Apr.   |   May   |  June
               |         |         |         |         |         |
___________________________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
1990...........|  $7.55  |  $7.57  |  $7.56  |  $7.57  |  $7.58  |  $7.57
1991...........|   7.41  |   7.43  |   7.44  |   7.45  |   7.45  |   7.47
1992...........|   7.42  |   7.44  |   7.43  |   7.42  |   7.42  |   7.42
1993...........|   7.39  |   7.38  |   7.40  |   7.37  |   7.38  |   7.38
1994...........|   7.43  |   7.42  |   7.40  |   7.40  |   7.42  |   7.39
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
               |  July   |  Aug.   |  Sept.  |  Oct.   |  Nov.   |  Dec.
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
1990...........|   7.56  |   7.49  |   7.48  |   7.43  |   7.43  |   7.43
1991...........|   7.46  |   7.47  |   7.47  |   7.46  |   7.43  |   7.44
1992...........|   7.41  |   7.43  |   7.40  |   7.40  |   7.41  |   7.38
1993...........|   7.38  |   7.39  |   7.40  |   7.39  |   7.40  |   7.40
1994...........|   7.38  |   7.37  |   7.38  |   7.42  |   7.39  |   7.39p
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |
               |                  Average weekly earnings
               |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
               |  Jan.   |  Feb.   |  Mar.   |  Apr.   |   May   |  June
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
1990...........| $260.41 | $261.26 | $260.85 | $262.00 | $261.38 | $261.79
1991...........|  253.51 |  254.01 |  254.57 |  254.08 |  254.83 |  257.75
1992...........|  254.51 |  256.61 |  256.44 |  254.40 |  256.08 |  254.60
1993...........|  254.32 |  253.86 |  252.97 |  253.59 |  256.22 |  253.83
1994...........|  258.42 |  254.43 |  255.90 |  256.83 |  258.15 |  255.58
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
               |  July   |  Aug.   |  Sept.  |  Oct.   |  Nov.   |  Dec.
               |         |         |         |         |         |
                ___________________________________________________________
               |         |         |         |         |         |
1990...........|  261.65 |  257.81 |  258.67 |  254.24 |  254.92 |  256.42
1991...........|  255.14 |  256.08 |  256.83 |  255.71 |  254.86 |  256.10
1992...........|  254.12 |  256.28 |  253.85 |  254.42 |  256.32 |  253.10
1993...........|  254.63 |  255.79 |  254.43 |  255.07 |  255.93 |  255.14
1994...........|  255.25 |  253.39 |  255.27 |  258.99 |  255.80 |  255.75p
               |         |         |         |         |         |
___________________________________________________________________________
   1/  Data relate to the earnings of production and related workers in
ining and manufacturing; construction workers in construction; and
nonsupervisory workers in transportation and public utilities; wholesale
and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real estate; and services.
   NOTE:  These data have been revised to reflect the seasonal experience
in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) from January 1990 through December 1994.