Economic News Release

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until	                        USDL-09-1402
8:30 a.m. (EST), Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Technical Information:	(202) 691-6555  *  cesinfo@bls.gov    *  www.bls.gov/ces
Media Contact:	        (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


REAL EARNINGS -- OCTOBER 2009

Real average hourly earnings fell 0.1 percent from September to October, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.  A 0.3 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for 
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) slightly offset a 0.3 percent increase in average 
hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers.

Real average weekly earnings fell 0.1 percent over the month, as a result of a decline in real average 
hourly earnings and an unchanged average work week.  Since reaching a recent high point in December 
2008, real average weekly earnings have fallen by 1.9 percent.

Real average hourly earnings grew 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, from October 2008 to October 2009.  
A 1.5 percent decline in average weekly hours partly offset the increase in real average hourly earnings 
and resulted in a 1.2 percent increase in real average weekly earnings during this period.

	
Real Earnings for November 2009 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 
8:30 a.m. (EST).

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* Upcoming Changes to the Real Earnings News Release                                                          *   
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* Effective with the release of January 2010 data on February 19, 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor              * 
* Statistics will introduce changes to the Real Earnings news release text and tables in order to incorporate * 
* new all employee hours and earning data. News release tables for Real Earnings will be redesigned to        * 
* incorporate the new series and to be consistent with formatting of the new Employment Situation news        *
* release tables.  Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/ces/upcoming_realer_changes.htm.        *           
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