Hourly earnings
$37.81per hour
+5.9%Favorablevs Dec 2024
The economy, at street level
Main Street
The prices you pay. The numbers behind them.
A clear view of the everyday American economy.
US / NATIONAL2026DATA WATCH / 01
Annual inflation+3.4%CPI-U · Aug 2026 · YoY
Unemployment4.2%LABOR FORCESep 2026 · seasonally adjusted
Hourly earnings$37.81/ HOURSep 2026 · +3.0% YoY
Income / 06 metrics
Pay & purchasing power.
Checked Oct 12, 2026, 10:03 AM UTC
Daily checks · monthly / quarterly releases
The defaults above select each term’s latest available observation and its comparison period. On any card, choose an observation and an earlier comparison period, or select None to show the value alone. Dates refer to the reported month or quarter, not live prices or daily earnings. Blue indicates favorable changes for consumers or workers, red unfavorable changes. Unchanged values stay neutral.
Average and median pay cover different workers. Real earnings measure purchasing power in 1982-84 dollars. Median weekly pay is quarterly; all figures are gross earnings, not take-home or household income.
Nonsupervisory hourly pay
$32.60per hour
+6.3%Favorablevs Dec 2024
Average weekly pay
$1,300.66per week
+6.2%Favorablevs Dec 2024
Real hourly pay
$11.30per hour
1982-84 dollars+0.5%Favorablevs Dec 2024
Real weekly pay
$388.75per week
1982-84 dollars+0.9%Favorablevs Dec 2024
Median weekly pay
$1,258per week
+6.2%Favorablevs Q4 2024
Coverage notes
More context is on the way.
Dollar rent estimate COMING NEXT
Annual Census median gross rent will sit beside the monthly rent index.
Health & coverage AVAILABLE
Employer premiums, employee contributions and health outcomes now have their own source records.
Explore HealthInformational use only. Figures may be delayed, revised or incomplete, and national estimates may differ from your costs. Do not use this dashboard for financial, investment, tax, legal or medical decisions. Administration comparisons describe changes during a term; they do not establish policy causation. Full notices