TEXT
Table A. Composition of change in real earnings of production or
Table 1. Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
Table 2. Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private


Technical information: (202) 606-6555     USDL 96-380
Media contact:               606-5902
                                          WIRE EMBARGO UNTIL
                                          10:00 A.M. (EDT) FRIDAY,
                                          SEPTEMBER 13, 1996
 
 
 
                     REAL EARNINGS IN AUGUST 1996
 
 
    Real average weekly earnings rose by 0.7 percent from July to
August after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary data
released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.
Department of Labor.  This increase stemmed from a 0.5 percent
increase in average hourly earnings coupled with a 0.3 percent
increase in average weekly hours.  These gains were partially offset
by a 0.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
    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 3.5 percent between August
of 1995 and 1996 as a result of a 3.5 percent increase in average
hourly earnings.  Average weekly hours were unchanged over the year.
After adjustment for a 2.9 percent gain in the CPI-W over the same
period, real average weekly earnings grew by 0.7 percent.  This
increase followed a decrease of 0.4 percent for the year ending in
July 1996.  Before adjustment for seasonal change and deflation by
the CPI-W, average weekly earnings were $409.60 in August 1996,
compared with $395.68 a year earlier.
                   _____________________________
     Real Earnings for September 1996 will be released on Wednesday,
October 16, 1996.
Table A. Composition of change in real earnings of production or
nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls
________________________________________________________________________
            |           |           |           |           |
            |  Average  |  Average  |  Average  |    The    |    Real
            |   hourly  |   weekly  |   weekly  |  Consumer |  average
   Year     |  earnings |   hours   |  earnings |   Price   |   weekly
    and     |           |           |           |  Index1/  |  earnings
   month    |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
            |
            |  Percent change from preceding month, seasonally adjusted
____________|___________________________________________________________
            |           |           |           |           |
1995:       |           |           |           |           |
    Aug.    |    -0.1   |    -0.3   |    -0.4   |     0.2   |    -0.6
    Sept.   |      .5   |      .0   |      .5   |      .1   |      .4
    Oct.    |      .3   |      .3   |      .6   |      .3   |      .2
    Nov.    |      .3   |     -.3   |      .1   |      .1   |    (2)
    Dec.    |      .2   |     -.3   |     -.1   |      .2   |     -.3
1996:       |           |           |           |           |
    Jan.    |      .1   |    -1.5   |    -1.4   |      .4   |    -1.8
    Feb.    |      .3   |     2.1   |     2.3   |      .2   |     2.1
    Mar.    |      .3   |      .0   |      .3   |      .5   |     -.2
    Apr.    |      .3   |     -.6   |     -.2   |      .4   |     -.6
    May     |      .1   |     -.3   |     -.2   |      .3   |     -.5
    June    |      .9   |     1.5   |     2.3   |      .1   |     2.3
    Julyp   |     -.2   |    -1.2   |    -1.3   |      .2   |    -1.5
    Aug.p   |      .5   |      .3   |      .8   |      .1   |      .7
            |___________________________________________________________
            |
            |         Percent change from same month a year ago
            |___________________________________________________________
            |           |           |           |           |
1995:       |           |           |           |           |
    Aug.    |     3.0   |    -0.6   |     2.4   |     2.5   |    -0.1
    Sept.   |     3.0   |     -.6   |     2.4   |     2.5   |     -.1
    Oct.    |     2.9   |     -.9   |     2.0   |     2.7   |     -.6
    Nov.    |     2.9   |     -.6   |     2.3   |     2.4   |     -.1
    Dec.    |     3.0   |     -.9   |     2.1   |     2.5   |     -.4
1996:       |           |           |           |           |
    Jan.    |     3.2   |    -2.9   |      .2   |     2.6   |    -2.5
    Feb.    |     3.0   |     -.3   |     2.7   |     2.6   |    (2)
    Mar.    |     3.1   |      .0   |     3.1   |     2.8   |      .3
    Apr.    |     3.2   |     -.6   |     2.6   |     2.9   |     -.3
    May     |     3.3   |      .3   |     3.6   |     2.9   |      .6
    June    |     3.7   |      .9   |     4.6   |     2.8   |     1.8
    Julyp   |     3.1   |     -.6   |     2.5   |     2.9   |     -.4
    Aug.p   |     3.5   |      .0   |     3.5   |     2.9   |      .7
____________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
 1/ The deflator for the constant-dollar series presented in this
release is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
Workers (CPI-W).
  2  Less than 0.05 percent.
  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         |        |        |        |    Percent
                          |   Aug. |   July |   Aug. |    change
                          |   1995 |   1996p|   1996p|  Aug. 1995 -
                          |        |        |        |  Aug. 1996
__________________________|________|________|________|______________
                          |        |        |        |
Total private:2/          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| $11.37 | $11.74 | $11.77 |      3.5
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   7.34 |   7.37 |   7.38 |       .5
                          |        |        |        |
Goods-producing:          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  13.10 |  13.55 |  13.58 |      3.7
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   8.45 |   8.51 |   8.52 |       .8
                          |        |        |        |
Mining:                   |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  15.29 |  15.54 |  15.47 |      1.2
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   9.86 |   9.76 |   9.71 |     -1.5
                          |        |        |        |
Construction:             |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  15.20 |  15.49 |  15.54 |      2.2
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   9.81 |   9.73 |   9.75 |      -.6
                          |        |        |        |
Manufacturing:            |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  12.35 |  12.80 |  12.84 |      4.0
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   7.97 |   8.04 |   8.06 |      1.1
                          |        |        |        |
Service-producing:        |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  10.78 |  11.14 |  11.16 |      3.5
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   6.95 |   7.00 |   7.00 |       .7
                          |        |        |        |
Transportation and public |        |        |        |
     utilities:           |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  14.24 |  14.55 |  14.56 |      2.2
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   9.19 |   9.14 |   9.13 |      -.7
                          |        |        |        |
Wholesale trade:          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  12.40 |  12.80 |  12.81 |      3.3
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   8.00 |   8.04 |   8.04 |       .5
                          |        |        |        |
Retail trade:             |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|   7.65 |   7.94 |   7.96 |      4.1
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   4.94 |   4.99 |   4.99 |      1.0
                          |        |        |        |
Finance, insurance,       |        |        |        |
     and real estate:     |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  12.28 |  12.69 |  12.70 |      3.4
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   7.92 |   7.97 |   7.97 |       .6
                          |        |        |        |
Services:                 |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|  11.22 |  11.61 |  11.63 |      3.7
 Constant (1982) dollars..|   7.24 |   7.29 |   7.30 |       .8
__________________________|________|________|________|______________
See footnotes at end of table.
Table 1. Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls in current and constant dollars1/ by industry -
Continued
____________________________________________________________________
                          |
                          |         Average weekly earnings
                          |_________________________________________
                          |        |        |        |
         Industry         |        |        |        |    Percent
                          |   Aug. |   July |   Aug. |    change
                          |   1995 |   1996p|   1996p|  Aug. 1995 -
                          |        |        |        |  Aug. 1996
__________________________|________|________|________|______________
                          |        |        |        |
Total private:2/          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........|$395.68 |$406.20 |$409.60 |      3.5
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 255.28 | 255.15 | 256.96 |       .7
                          |        |        |        |
Goods-producing:          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 539.72 | 554.20 | 560.85 |      3.9
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 348.21 | 348.12 | 351.85 |      1.0
                          |        |        |        |
Mining:                   |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 683.46 | 694.64 | 696.15 |      1.9
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 440.94 | 436.33 | 436.73 |     -1.0
                          |        |        |        |
Construction:             |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 604.96 | 616.50 | 618.49 |      2.2
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 390.30 | 387.25 | 388.01 |      -.6
                          |        |        |        |
Manufacturing:            |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 512.53 | 526.08 | 536.71 |      4.7
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 330.66 | 330.45 | 336.71 |      1.8
                          |        |        |        |
Service-producing:        |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 355.74 | 366.51 | 368.28 |      3.5
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 229.51 | 230.22 | 231.04 |       .7
                          |        |        |        |
Transportation and public |        |        |        |
     utilities:           |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 566.75 | 576.18 | 580.94 |      2.5
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 365.65 | 361.92 | 364.45 |      -.3
                          |        |        |        |
Wholesale trade:          |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 474.92 | 487.68 | 490.62 |      3.3
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 306.40 | 306.33 | 307.79 |       .5
                          |        |        |        |
Retail trade:             |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 225.68 | 234.23 | 234.82 |      4.0
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 145.60 | 147.13 | 147.31 |      1.2
                          |        |        |        |
Finance, insurance,       |        |        |        |
     and real estate:     |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 438.40 | 451.76 | 453.39 |      3.4
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 282.84 | 283.77 | 284.44 |       .6
                          |        |        |        |
Services:                 |        |        |        |
 Current dollars..........| 366.89 | 377.33 | 380.30 |      3.7
 Constant (1982) dollars..| 236.70 | 237.02 | 238.58 |       .8
__________________________|________|________|________|______________
 1/ The deflator for the constant-dollar series presented in this
release is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
 2/ Data relate to production and related workers in mining and
manufacturing; construction workers in construction; and
nonsupervisory workers in transportation and public utilities,
trade, finance, insurance, and real estate, and services. Included
in this group are approximately four-fifths of all jobs on private
industry payrolls.
  p = preliminary.
Table 2. Earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls1/, seasonally adjusted
_________________________________________________________________________
             |                             |
             |                             |
             |        Average hourly       |        Average weekly
             |           earnings          |           earnings
             |                             |
    Year     |_____________________________|_____________________________
     and     |              |              |              |
    month    |              |              |              |
             |    Current   |   Constant   |    Current   |   Constant
             |    dollars   |    (1982)    |    dollars   |    (1982)
             |              |   dollars2/  |              |   dollars2/
             |              |              |              |
_____________|______________|______________|______________|______________
             |              |              |              |
1995:        |              |              |              |
    Aug.     |    $11.46    |     $7.39    |   $394.22    |   $254.34
    Sept.    |     11.52    |      7.42    |    396.29    |    255.34
    Oct.     |     11.55    |      7.42    |    398.48    |    255.93
    Nov.     |     11.59    |      7.44    |    398.70    |    255.91
    Dec.     |     11.61    |      7.44    |    398.22    |    255.11
1996:        |              |              |              |
    Jan.     |     11.62    |      7.41    |    392.76    |    250.48
    Feb.     |     11.65    |      7.42    |    401.93    |    255.84
    Mar.     |     11.68    |      7.40    |    402.96    |    255.36
    Apr.     |     11.72    |      7.40    |    402.00    |    253.79
    May      |     11.73    |      7.38    |    401.17    |    252.47
    June     |     11.83    |      7.44    |    410.50    |    258.18
    July p   |     11.81    |      7.41    |    405.08    |    254.29
    Aug. p   |     11.87    |      7.45    |    408.33    |    256.17
_____________|______________|______________|______________|______________
 1/ See footnote 2, table 1.
 2/ The deflator for the constant-dollar series presented in this release
is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W).
  p = preliminary.