Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.8 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 4 cents to $21.72 in October." So, the number that got everybody excited was the 2.8% year-over-year gain for average hourly earnings. Weekly earnings are more indicative of a person's actual financial condition than hourly earnings, and 2.5% is pretty much where we've been all along. Well, "private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees" is a group that comprises four-fifths of the entire work force.

Source: Wall Street Journal November 04, 2016 12:09 UTC