Investing February 22, 2006

January Earnings See Downtick

February 22, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Real average weekly earnings fell by 0.2% in January 2006 after seasonal adjustment, according to preliminary government data.
Reported by

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data from the US Department of Labor indicated that the fallback stemmed from a 0.7% increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which was partially offset by a 0.4% increase in average hourly earnings.  Average weekly hours were unchanged during the period.

Average weekly earnings rose by 3.6%, seasonally adjusted, from January 2005 to January 2006.  After deflation by the CPI-W, average weekly earnings decreased by 0.4%. 

Before adjustment for seasonal change and inflation, average weekly earnings were $558.38 in January 2006, compared with $537.26 a year earlier.

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