# 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.

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- Publisher: Newsverum
- Section: Economy
- Country: United States
- Published: 2026-10-15T08:58:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-15T08:58:15+00:00
- Event / data period: 2026-09
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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.

Methodology: Real earnings changes in the BLS monthly establishment survey; the all-employee series is deflated by CPI-U. Values are reported by BLS.

| label | value | unit | period | basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |

Sources: <https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/realer_10142026.htm> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/us-real-hourly-earnings-fall-september-2026/data/real-earnings-september-2026?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/us-real-hourly-earnings-fall-september-2026/data/real-earnings-september-2026?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](<https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/realer_10142026.htm>) (Source checked: 2026-10-15; Published: 2026-10-14)

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