vs Last Month
+$0.12
~0.34% MoM growth.
Average Hourly Earnings
U.S. Private-Sector · Monthly BLS
$35.42
+$0.12 vs. last month
Past 12 monthsRange $34.10 – $35.50
vs Last Year+$1.32
5-Yr Avg$32.10
YoY %+3.9%
Wages grew 3.9% over the past year while inflation ran 3.1% — meaning real wages are growing again. After the 2021–22 period of inflation outrunning wages, workers are finally regaining purchasing power.
Historical trend
Monthly BLS Establishment Survey.
Source: FRED · CES0500000003
The long view: since 2006
Nominal wages doubled in 20 years.
Today $35.42 · ATH2006 $16.625-Yr Avg $32.10
How today stacks up
vs Last Year
+$1.32
+3.9% YoY — above inflation.
5-Yr Avg
$32.10
Today $3.32 above mean.
Real Wage Growth
+0.8%
After 3.1% inflation.
Use this data
Tools for wage decisions.
About Average Hourly Earnings
Average Hourly Earnings (AHE) is the monthly BLS measure of private-sector wage growth in the U.S. — computed from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey of about 651,000 worksites. Today's $35.42 represents the average hourly wage across all private-sector industries, weighted by workforce size. It's one of three headline numbers from the first-Friday Jobs Report (alongside unemployment rate and nonfarm payrolls).
Why wage growth matters
Wages drive consumer spending (the largest component of GDP) and influence inflation expectations. The Fed watches wage growth closely: when wages rise faster than productivity, it creates inflationary pressure. The Fed's informal threshold is wages growing about 2% faster than productivity — at 3.0% wage growth and 1.5% productivity growth, that's "balanced." Faster wage growth = more inflationary; slower = more disinflationary.
Reading this chart
Wages have risen roughly 113% since 2006 in nominal terms (from $16.62 to $35.42). But inflation rose ~65% over the same period — so real wages rose about 30%. The 2021–22 period saw an unusual real wage decline as inflation outran wage growth. From 2023 onward, wage growth has exceeded inflation — recovering some of that lost ground. Today's 3.9% annual wage growth slightly exceeds 3.1% inflation, meaning real wages are growing by about 80 bps annually.
Related trackers
Other live numbers that move with — or against — this one.
Frequently asked
What this number means, and what it doesn't.
It's a weighted average across all private-sector workers. Median wages are lower (~$25/hour). The average is pulled up by high-earning tech, finance, and professional services workers. Service-sector workers typically earn less than this number.
Real wages = nominal wages minus inflation. Today's 3.9% nominal wage growth minus 3.1% inflation = 0.8% real wage growth — meaning the average worker's purchasing power increased slightly. From 2021–22, the math went the other way: wages grew but inflation outran them.
No — wages and salaries only. Benefits (healthcare, retirement contributions, paid leave) add another ~30% to total compensation. The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is a broader measure that includes benefits.
Wage growth feeds inflation in two ways: (1) businesses pass higher labor costs through to prices, (2) higher earners spend more, boosting demand. The Fed wants wage growth that exceeds productivity by ~2% — fast enough to support living standards but not so fast that it sustains inflation.
Methodology
Source
Pulled from FRED · CES0500000003 and cached on the EvvyTools server.
Update schedule
Refreshed automatically by our cron whenever the upstream source publishes a new value. Historical values are not revised after publication.
How we compute
Display value is the raw published number, unrounded. Comparison stats use the closest available reference date. We never edit the underlying data.