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

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
Industry	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

More to come