United States Average Hourly Earnings

Average hourly earnings for all employees on US private nonfarm payrolls rose by 17 cents, or 0.6% to $30.73 in August of 2021, following increases in the prior 4 months and above market estimates of 0.3%. In August, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 14 cents to $25.99. The data for recent months suggest that the rising demand for labor associated with the recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on wages. However, because average hourly earnings vary widely across industries, the large employment fluctuations since February 2020 complicate the analysis of recent trends in average hourly earnings. Year-on-year, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.3%, above market expectations of 4%.