Real Earnings for November 2011
For the period from October to November 2011, real average hourly earnings fell 0.1 percent; directly proportional to a 0.1 percent earnings decrease during the same period. The average work week length remained stagnant. This is down from the October 2010 peak from which average weekly earnings fell 1.7 percent.
Compared November 2010, real earnings fell 1.5 percent. However, combined with a 0.3 percent increase in the average work week over the same period, the decline in average hourly earnings resulted in a slightly smaller 1.2 percent decrease in weekly earnings. The data refers to all employees.
Meanwhile, production and non-supervisory employees saw a 0.2 percent rise in actual average hourly earnings for the October 2011 to November 2011 period. The rise is a direct result a 0.1 percent increase in hourly earnings coupled with a 0.1 percent decrease in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W). However, average weekly earnings dropped 0.1 percent due to a shortened average work week which shrunk 0.3 percent. Year over year, production and non-supervisory workers have seen a 1.9 percent reduction in average weekly earnings.
From November 2010 to November 2011, production and non-supervisory workers experienced a 2.1 percent fall in average hourly earnings. Combined with a year-over-year 0.3 percent increase in average weekly hours, average weekly earnings dropped 1.8 percent. Earnings data for December 2011 will be released on January 19th, 2011.