The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
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REAL EARNINGS – FEBRUARY 2022
All employees
Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.8 percent from January to February,
seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This result stems from
essentially no change in average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.8 percent in the
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).
Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.5 percent over the month due to the change in real average
hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in the average workweek.
Chart 1: Over-the-month percent change in real average hourly earnings for all employees, seasonally
adjusted, February 2021–February 2022
Percent Change
Real average hourly earnings decreased 2.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, from February 2021 to
February 2022. The change in real average hourly earnings combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in
the average workweek resulted in a 2.3-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this
period.
0.0
-0.6
-0.2
-0.2
-0.4
0.1
-0.1
0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.1
0.0
-0.8
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
Feb '21 Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan Feb '22
Production and nonsupervisory employees
Real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees decreased 0.6 percent from
January to February, seasonally adjusted. This result stems from a 0.3-percent increase in average hourly
earnings combined with an increase of 0.9 percent in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners
and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
Real average weekly earnings decreased 0.3 percent over the month due to the change in real average
hourly earnings being combined with an increase of 0.3 percent in average weekly hours.
Chart 2: Over-the-month percent chang