Average Hourly Earnings

November 1, 2024 Average  hourly earnings rose 0.4% in October to $35.46 after having increased 0.3% September and 0.4% in August.  Earnings growth has slowed from 4.3% at the end of  last year to 4.0% currently.  The earlier decline in earnings appears to reflect the...

Average Duration of Unemployment

November 1, 2024 The average duration of unemployment rose 0.3 week in October to 22.9 weeks after having increased 0.6 weeks in September and 0.4 week in August.  It appears that unemployment workers are having a somewhat more difficult time becoming reemployed....

Personal Income and Consumption Expenditures — Monthly

October 31, 2024 Personal consumption expenditures rose 0.5% in September after gaining 0.3% in August and 0.6% in July.  In the past year nominal spending has risen 5.3%. What we are really interested in is “real” or inflation-adjusted spending.  That is...

Employment Cost Index

October 31, 2024 The employment cost index for civilian workers climbed at a 3.1% annual rate in the third quarter after rising at a 3.7% pace in the second quarter.    Over the course of the past year it has risen 3.9%. The employment cost index peaked at 5.1% in the...

Initial Unemployment Claims

October 31, 2024 Initial unemployment claims declined 12 thousand in the week ending October 26  to 216 thousand after falling 14 thousand in the previous week.   This series has risen slightly in the past six months.  The 4-week average of claims was 210 thousand at...