Average Hourly Earnings

June 5, 2026 Average  hourly earnings rose 03% in May to $37.53 after having risen 0.2% in April,  Earnings growth  in the past year has been 3.4%. While nominal earnings have risen 3.4% in the past year, inflation has risen by 3.7% so real or inflation-adjusted...

Average Duration of Unemployment

June 5 2025 The average duration of unemployment 1.6 weeks in May to 26.0 weeks after having declined 0.9 week in April.   That works out to an average duration of unemployment of six months. It appears that unemployed workers are having a somewhat more difficult time...

Nonfarm Productivity

June 4, 2026 Non-farm productivity rose0.3% in the first quarter after climbing 1.6% in the fourth quarter and 5.2% in the third quarter   First quarter growth rate consisted of a 1.0% increase in output combined with a 0.7% increase in hours worked. Hence, a 0.3%...

Unit Labor Costs

June 4, 2026 Unit labor costs might be a term that is not familiar to you.  Unit labor costs represent the increase in compensation adjusted for the gains in productivity.  You might think that if labor costs are rising that would put upward pressure on...

Hourly Compensation

June 4 2026 The Bureau of Labor Statistics  indicated that hourly compensation rose 2.1% in the first quarter after climbing 3.7% in the fourth quarter and 3.0% in the third quarter  In the past year compensation has risen 3.3%. Growth in hourly compensation is a good...