Monday, May 10, 2021

Jobs Report: ICYMI Private Sector Average Hourly Earnings (production employees) Increased At a 9% Annual Rate In April

Beyond the headlines of the jobs report was this paragraph:

In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 21 cents to $30.17, following a decline of 4 cents in the prior month. In April, average hourly earnings for private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees rose by 20 cents to $25.45. The data for April suggest that the rising demand for labor associated with the recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on wages. Since average hourly earnings vary widely across industries, the large employment fluctuations since February 2020 complicate the analysis of recent trends in average hourly earnings. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
 From the report:
Table B-8. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
ESTABLISHMENT DATA
Table B-8. Average hourly and weekly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry Average hourly earnings Average weekly earnings
Apr.
2020
Feb.
2021
Mar.
2021(p)
Apr.
2021(p)
Apr.
2020
Feb.
2021
Mar.
2021(p)
Apr.
2021(p)

Total private

$25.16 $25.21 $25.25 $25.45 $842.86 $857.14 $868.60 $875.48

Goods-producing

25.19 25.83 25.97 26.17 972.33 1,046.12 1,069.96 1,075.59

Mining and logging

30.98 30.66 30.68 31.29 1,335.24 1,391.96 1,438.89 1,458.11

Construction

28.69 29.65 29.77 30.21 1,098.83 1,144.49 1,193.78 1,202.36

Manufacturing

22.72 23.29 23.33 23.38 874.72 964.21 972.86 974.95

Durable goods

23.56 24.30 24.32 24.41 897.64 1,008.45 1,019.01 1,020.34

Nondurable goods

21.49 21.72 21.75 21.78 840.26 899.21 898.28 903.87

Private service-providing

25.15 25.08 25.10 25.30 819.89 825.13 833.32 842.49

Trade, transportation, and utilities

21.59 21.72 21.79 22.02 725.42 745.00 753.93 761.89

Wholesale trade

26.87 27.30 27.35 27.40 994.19 1,051.05 1,063.92 1,068.60

Retail trade

17.63 17.91 18.02 18.39 537.72 553.42 560.42 571.93

Transportation and warehousing

22.82 22.96 22.89 23.00 848.90 886.26 892.71 901.60

Utilities

38.00 39.63 39.89 39.79 1,607.40 1,688.24 1,707.29 1,699.03

Information

35.76 36.87 36.86 36.85 1,273.06 1,345.76 1,323.27 1,341.34

Financial activities

28.82 29.86 30.00 30.08 1,063.46 1,116.76 1,122.00 1,128.00

Professional and business services

29.86 29.88 29.98 30.15 1,051.07 1,072.69 1,088.27 1,100.48

Education and health services

25.35 26.20 26.17 26.52 806.13 854.12 855.76 864.55

Leisure and hospitality

14.68 15.05 15.27 15.68 327.36 362.71 378.70 396.70

Other services

23.50 23.00 23.01 23.07 733.20 713.00 722.51 724.40

Footnotes
(1) Data relate to production employees in mining and logging and manufacturing, construction employees in construction, and nonsupervisory employees in the service-providing industries. These groups account for approximately four-fifths of the total employment on private nonfarm payrolls.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Data have been revised to reflect March 2020 benchmark levels and updated seasonal adjustment factors.

Hourly earnings is a very bumpy series and annualizing from a one month change of +00792% (20 cents on $25.25) is an exercise in finding out how fast you go wrong, but it is still the way the math works today.

Unfortunately for hourly workers the worldwide cost of food is increasing at over three times that rate:

FAO Food Price Index Rises For 11th Straight Month, Up 30.8% Year-over-Year 

See also:

Jobs Report: Analysts React (coherence supplied by Izabella Kaminska)

Big Expansion In Productivity Means Fewer Jobs For Workers To Come Back To

More to come