Average Hourly Earnings (Wage Growth)
Average hourly earnings track the pay of all private-sector employees, published monthly by the BLS in the same Establishment Survey that produces nonfarm payrolls. The year-over-year change is the most-watched gauge of US wage growth — and one of the inputs the Fed weighs most heavily for inflation persistence.
Latest reading
As of June 2026, Wage Growth (YoY %) stands at 3.5% — up from 3.4% the prior reading. Wage growth around 3% is broadly consistent with the Fed's 2% inflation target plus trend productivity. Sustained readings above ~4% signal wage pressure that can keep services inflation sticky; cooling wage growth alongside stable employment is the textbook soft-landing combination. One caveat: composition effects distort the average — when low-wage workers are laid off first, measured wages can rise even as the labor market weakens. Series history runs from 2006 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-08-04 · Open ↓Close ↑
YoY %
- Hourly wage
- $37.64
Next release: Aug 7, 2026
Full history
Year-over-year %
Wage level ($/hr)
Average hourly earnings of all private-sector employees, in dollars per hour — the pay level the year-over-year wage-growth rate is computed from.
Methodology & data
Wage Growth is sourced from BLS via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BLS Establishment Survey via FRED (CES0500000003), monthly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-08-04. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Average Hourly Earnings (Wage Growth)?
Average hourly earnings track the pay of all private-sector employees, published monthly by the BLS in the same Establishment Survey that produces nonfarm payrolls. The year-over-year change is the most-watched gauge of US wage growth — and one of the inputs the Fed weighs most heavily for inflation persistence.
How do you read Wage Growth?
Wage growth around 3% is broadly consistent with the Fed's 2% inflation target plus trend productivity. Sustained readings above ~4% signal wage pressure that can keep services inflation sticky; cooling wage growth alongside stable employment is the textbook soft-landing combination. One caveat: composition effects distort the average — when low-wage workers are laid off first, measured wages can rise even as the labor market weakens.
Where does the Wage Growth data come from?
BLS Establishment Survey via FRED (CES0500000003), monthly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/average-hourly-earnings.csv.
How often is Wage Growth updated?
Wage Growth is a monthly series from BLS, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
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