Indicator brief · CES0500000003
How fast are U.S. wages growing?
Average hourly earnings of all private-sector employees were $37.81 in September 2026, up 3.0% from a year earlier and +0.1% from the prior month (seasonally adjusted), according to the BLS establishment survey.
Latest print · September 2026
3.0% y/y
- 12-month change
- 3.0%
- 1-month change
- +0.1%
- Implied real change
- −0.7%
What the latest numbers show
- With headline CPI up 3.7% over the same 12 months, nominal wage growth of 3.0% implies real hourly earnings growth of roughly −0.7% (computed here as (1+wage)/(1+CPI)−1; BLS publishes its own Real Earnings release).
- In the 105-month window shown, 12-month wage growth ranged from 0.6% (Apr 2021) to 8.1% (Apr 2020). The 2020 spike reflected job losses concentrated among lower-paid workers, a composition effect rather than broad raises.
History
Recent observations
| Month | Earnings | 12-mo % | 1-mo % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 (p) | $37.81 | 3.0 | +0.1 |
| Aug 2026 (p) | $37.76 | 3.1 | +0.3 |
| Jul 2026 | $37.64 | 3.2 | +0.1 |
| Jun 2026 | $37.59 | 3.4 | +0.3 |
| May 2026 | $37.49 | 3.3 | +0.2 |
| Apr 2026 | $37.41 | 3.6 | +0.2 |
| Mar 2026 | $37.35 | 3.4 | +0.2 |
| Feb 2026 | $37.27 | 3.7 | +0.3 |
| Jan 2026 | $37.15 | 3.7 | +0.4 |
| Dec 2025 | $37.02 | 3.7 | +0.1 |
| Nov 2025 | $37.00 | 3.9 | +0.4 |
| Oct 2025 | $36.85 | 3.9 | +0.4 |
| Sep 2025 | $36.70 | 3.8 | +0.2 |
What it measures
Average hourly earnings (AHE) are gross payroll for all private-sector employees divided by total hours paid, from the BLS establishment survey (series CES0500000003, seasonally adjusted). They include overtime but exclude benefits and irregular bonuses.
Because AHE is an average, shifts in the mix of jobs (for example, more low-wage jobs) can move it even when individual pay does not change. The Employment Cost Index controls for that mix.
How and when it is published
Published with the Employment Situation report on the first Friday of most months at 8:30 a.m. ET; the latest two months are preliminary.
For inflation-adjusted figures BLS publishes a separate Real Earnings release alongside CPI.
Next scheduled release: November 6, 2026 at 08:30 ET (release calendar).
Sources
- BLS Current Employment Statistics
- BLS series CES0500000003
- BLS Real Earnings release
- Retrieval time for this page’s data: 2026-10-15 14:59 UTC. See our methodology for calculations.