U.S. real hourly earnings fell 0.5% in September
Inflation-adjusted hourly pay for private nonfarm employees declined as nominal wage growth lagged consumer-price gains.
Event / data period: 2026-09
Published: · Updated:
Real average hourly earnings for all employees on U.S. private nonfarm payrolls fell 0.5% from August to September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on October 14. Average hourly earnings rose 0.1% in nominal terms while the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.6%. Real weekly earnings also fell 0.5% over the month, with no change in the average workweek.
From September 2025 to September 2026, real hourly earnings declined 0.7% and real weekly earnings 0.1%. For production and nonsupervisory employees, real hourly earnings fell 0.6% over the month. BLS derives these averages from its monthly establishment survey of payrolls, hours and employment; they describe weighted averages across jobs, not the pay change of a typical individual worker.
Data
Real earnings changes
U.S. private nonfarm sector, September 2026.
- Real hourly earnings, monthly change
- -0.5 percent
- 2026-09 · Observed
- Real weekly earnings, monthly change
- -0.5 percent
- 2026-09 · Observed
- Real hourly earnings, year-over-year change
- -0.7 percent
- 2026-09 · Observed
Methodology
Real earnings changes in the BLS monthly establishment survey; the all-employee series is deflated by CPI-U. Values are reported by BLS.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- EconomySuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlywww.bls.gov ↗
- Wages and benefitsSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: wagewww.bls.gov ↗
Geographic references
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- United States · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww.bls.gov ↗